


All That's Good is Doubly Good

by scatteredstardust



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alpha Mark Lee (NCT), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - College/University, Attempt at Humor, Brief mention of sexual harrassment, Clothes Stealing, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff and Angst, Idiots in Love, Light Angst, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Nesting, Oblivious Mark, Omega Lee Donghyuck | Haechan, Pining, Rating changed from M to E to reflect content in chapter 2, Sexual Content, Woke Kim Doyoung™, markhyuck fan week day 7: free day, then fluff again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-13 05:01:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 20,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28522839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scatteredstardust/pseuds/scatteredstardust
Summary: “First of all I’m not naked,” Mark said, gesturing towards his boxers. “Second of all you know why,” Mark said, sending him a dark look.“I really don’t,” Donghyuck said, face carefully blank.Mark spun around and pointed at Donghyuck. “You stole all my clothes. I don’t have clothes anymore. You have all of them. That’s why I’m naked!”Donghyuck’s left eye twitched, “I did not steal all of your clothes—“Then why don’t I have any clothes?”...Donghyuck keeps stealing Mark's clothes for his nest during his preheat. At this rate, he'll be going to class naked by the end of the week....ch. 2 is up!! preview: It takes time and intimacy to become comfortable enough to share a heat with someone. They have about fifteen hours, so long as he doesn’t end up strangling Mark first.Deep breaths.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Comments: 97
Kudos: 998
Collections: Favorites, Markhyuck Week 2021





	1. The Un-Sockening™

Mark knows the importance of healthy boundaries. He has them, he sets them. He draws the line and keeps it. Naturally, Donghyuck smudges those lines like rubbed chalk on a blackboard.

Those lines get blown into dust around Donghyuck's heats.

"You should give me some of your gym clothes," Mark heard his bedroom door open from behind him and he jumped. Mark turned around to face the doorway with a refusal on his lips, before he stopped, and then he put it together: the subtle scent changes and the mood swings. The lack of clothes in his drawer. Donghyuck was in preheat.

Donghyuck, of course, looked a certain shade of preheat-miserable, going by the slump of his shoulders in Mark's Vancouver hoodie.

Mark wrinkled his nose, "You can have them, but. Isn't that a little... disgusting? "

Donghyuck's face scrunched up at the suggestion. "It's not my fault that your stupid sweaty gym clothes make good nesting material."

"They do?" Mark asked, voice cracking and eyebrows rising to his hairline. Mark cleared his throat. “I mean… they do?” Mark asked more calmly.

Donghyuck only scowled in response. The idea that Donghyuck somehow wanted Mark's smelly gym shorts in his nest was… weirdly sweet. If insanely strange. Especially for a boy who loudly complained about Mark’s sweaty foot odor every time he so much as noticed Mark taking off his socks.

Donghyuck glared at him. "Don't flatter yourself. I just need a familiar scent in my nest, but if you don't want to, I'll just go to someone else I guess-"

"You can use mine Hyuck! You can just use mine. Just leave me some clothes to wear to class this time you kn—"

Donghyuck cut him off abruptly, face flaming, lifting Mark's half-full laundry hamper and walking back to his bedroom.

Not to be an alpha about it, but Donghyuck’s preheat was a difficult ordeal for Mark too.

Well, obviously it was more difficult for Donghyuck, with the cramps and the mood swings. The _mood swings_. Mark secretly has to brace himself too. Donghyuck was mercurial at the best of times. Around his heat, well...

The real difficulty was in Mark managing his own instincts, because all that Mark's instincts screamed at him to do during Donghyuck's preheats was to protect him. Which was normal! All alphas felt that way about the omegas in their lives to some extent, and it’s not like he could help it, it was all that wolf evolution shit from back when pack dynamics were a thing and people were worried about the fucking ice age.

Even more than protect him, he wanted to tuck him in at night and hold him and make him breakfast and make sure that he was eating right and sleeping well and honestly just reams of other frighteningly gooey shit, that Mark was sure Donghyuck would make fun of him for if he ever said them out loud, or even worse, acted upon them.

Mark shouted over the din of the bar, the wild swinging of his arms creating a psychedelic pattern with his bright green and pink sweater. It was hardly his first choice of clothing, but alas, almost everything Mark regularly wore had probably been absorbed into Donghyuck’s nest.

Mark pouted. “I mean, I just don’t understand why it only has to be _my_ clothes- Don’t omegas nest with the clothes of everyone they feel comfortable with?”

Johnny took a swig of his beer before setting it down on his napkin, like he needed a drink before addressing Mark’s question. He raised an eyebrow. “I mean, dude, he lives with you and he’s your best friend too, wouldn’t he be most comfortable with you?”

Mark scrunched his nose, “Yeah, but-“

A loud _ping!_ sounded from both Mark and Renjun’s phones at the same time, interrupting their post-lecture social gathering and attracting the attention of Johnny, Doyoung, Jeno, Taeyong, and Yuta around the bar table.

Jeno leaned over Renjun’s shoulder. “It must be his majesty,” he remarked with a wry smile. Probably not. Donghyuck looked way too miserable to join them at the bar.

“Actually it’s a—“

“Calendar alert?” Mark asked, recognizing the noise. He peeked over from his phone to Renjun’s, reading the notification before his eyes widened. “Wait, you _also_ have a calendar alert for Donghyuck’s heat?” He hiss-whispered at him.

“I need to know when he’s about to fly into a fit of grumpiness before refusing to speak to me and then disappearing for a week.” Renjun gave him a smug look. “Why do you have one, Mark?”

Mark muttered in response, blushing. “I need the warning.”

“Can’t you just sense it, though, Mark?” Taeyong asked, curious.

Doyoung pushed up his glasses. The beta replied using his I’m-a-gender-type-studies expert voice, “Well, it’s harder to tell those things if you’re not mated to the omega. And since the scent changes gradually, it’s harder to tell.”

“Oh,” Taeyong responded.

Mark knows firsthand how Donghyuck’s scent changes. Donghyuck always smells good, omegas always smell good, that’s just a fact, right? So if Donghyuck just starts smelling _more_ good he usually doesn’t notice it at first. Unfortunately, _everyone else_ notices.

Mark once tried wearing one of Donghyuck’s hoodies outside during a preheat period as revenge for Donghyuck stealing all of his clothing and either wearing it or adding it to his nest. It was intensely uncomfortable. Alphas kept staring at him hungrily, as if he was a piece of meat. It took a second to realize it was because he was carrying the cloud of Donghyuck’s heat pheromones on his clothing.

After Mark’s creative writing lecture, one alpha came up to him grinning lasciviously and looking him up and down. He made a pass at Mark, mistaking him for an omega by the scent on his clothes.

“Hey baby, don’t you think you look a little desperate going outside reeking like that. You need an alpha to fuck you through you through your heat, I can do that for you.” The asshole leered at him.

And well, Mark was taught to be kind and respectful. He wasn’t a violent alpha, but on that day he got a disciplinary record from the college for punching that alpha in the face. He would gladly do it again.

Mark tightened his hand around the mug of beer in front of him, jaw clenched, before consciously relaxing to avoid releasing his pheromones. After that incident, he stopped complaining about Donghyuck stealing his clothes. If Donghyuck faced even a fraction of what Mark experienced that day, he hoped that the scent of Mark on his clothing could prevent those assholes from approaching him.

Doyoung’s voice came into focus again, strident “Heat leave is not just a fun, pleasant holiday, Yuta. Omegas face consequences at all levels of society for taking it, and it’s not like they can control it. And you know it’s especially bad for male omegas too.”

Yuta held his arms up, surrendering. “I agree! I just meant I’m glad Donghyuck’s taking a break since he’s been so busy lately.”

Mark smiled slightly. Doyoung had always been protective of Donghyuck, especially ever since he presented. Mark suspected that being friends with Donghyuck was part of why he became a gender-type studies major.

Mark had known Donghyuck since they were kids, so he was able to see how his life changed with his presentation, and not always in pleasant ways. Male omegas made up about one percent of the population, give or take. They were exceedingly rare, especially in comparison to female omegas. The general population tended to regard Donghyuck as either a freak or a fetish, in a way that angered Mark to no end. It made Donghyuck angry too, in a way that made him harder, more defensive.

Mark got a notification for a text from Donghyuck.

Hey

I know you’re doing your friend hang

But you should buy me some chicken and come home

Okay

Mark sighed and stretched, “I think I’m going to head back now. I was going to buy some chicken before I went home. Have fun, you guys.”

Around the table, a series of byes and see-you-laters erupted. Out of the corner of his eye, Mark glimpsed Jeno conspicuously mouthing _whipped_ to Renjun. Mark caught Jeno in a playful headlock. “Who’s whipped, Jeno? I just want to eat some chicken tonight.”

“Yeah, yeah. Go buy your chicken, Mark,” Jeno laughed, breaking free from the headlock.

Mark debated between garlic and chili chicken, before deciding on both. If Donghyuck did not want one of them, the other could be their leftovers.

He walked back to their apartment, arms laden with treats. After a minute of fumbling, he got the door open to see Donghyuck languishing on the couch and watching a movie, _Ella Enchanted_ by what he could see on the screen.

“Oh good, you’re back.” He perked up, reaching for the bag of chicken in Mark’s arms.

“No hi?” Mark quipped, plopping next to Donghyuck on the couch. Donghyuck immediately pressed close to him, resting his head in the crook of his shoulder. Donghyuck was always touchy during his preheat. Well, Donghyuck was touchy _always_ , but it got particularly bad before his heat. Mark didn’t begrudge him that. Physical contact was something omegas naturally craved before heats. Even Mark tended to seek physical contact from his friends before ruts.

“You’re cold,” Donghyuck complained. Mark rubbed Donghyuck’s arm. “It is winter you know?” Mark retorted. Donghyuck simply snorted before putting his focus back on the movie, blinking sleepily at the light.

“Tired?” Mark asked, pulling Donghyuck down from where he rested on his shoulder to lie down in Mark’s lap with Mark scratching his scalp.

“Yeah,” Donghyuck yawned, closing his eyes at the pressure of Mark’s fingers in his hair. _He looks sweet like this_ , Mark thought. He felt privileged to see this side of Donghyuck, the sweet and sleepy one that liked having his scalp scratched.

Mark hummed. “Why were you staying up, anyway? Were you waiting for me?” Donghyuck scrunched his nose at the question.

“Who cares about you? I was just waiting for an email from my professor to confirm my heat leave.”

“Oh?” Mark said, stilling the hand in Donghyuck’s hair.

“Yeah, you know how alpha professors are. And the stupid university policy. You have to email your professor _and_ see them in person to get the leave approved. The only reason they make us go there in person anyway is so they can surreptitiously smell whether we’re really going into heat or not. It’s condescending. And humiliating.” Mark hummed in agreement.

Donhyuck chuckled darkly, shifting in Mark’s lap. “My professor acted so surprised that I was an omega. I think he lowkey sniffed me too. I’m so done with alphas.”

“I’m sorry Hyuck, ” Mark sighed. He couldn’t imagine what It would be like in Donghyuck’s place. He struggled for a second to come up with something he could say to make Donghyuck feel better. To somehow apologize for his gender.

“Yeah, yeah, it sucks.” Donghyuck sighed. He grabbed Mark’s hand and placed it back on his head. “Please stroke my hair now.”

Mark gladly continued his ministrations as Donghyuck drifted off to sleep.

One morning during Donghyuck’s last preheat, Mark had Googled _how to help omega in preheat_ with the safesearch filter carefully checked _on_. It wasn’t that he wanted to directly help him per se (Donghyuck would murder him if he even suspected that), it was just that Donghyuck in preheat always looked so miserable and grouchy and in pain, and he kept stealing all of Mark’s clothes dammit! Inevitably, by the end of the preheat period, all Mark had in his closet were a stray pair of socks and some workout leggings.

He sat in the kitchen that early morning, too early for Donghyuck hours, wringing his hands as he skimmed through the results that were oddly gender specific or twee _(light her favorite candle and draw her a soothing flower-scented bath, you hunky alpha!)_ until he found a helpful Reddit post.

So You Want To Help your Omega through Preheat? Some tips for your Dumb Ass

  1. Sit down and shut up: don’t try to tell your omega what’s happening to their body or how bad they’re supposed to feel! Every omega’s body is different; they know in intimate detail how their body is feeling.
  2. Give your omega some space. I get it, your instincts are going crazy. You want to keep them away from all alphas and wrap them in blankets and keep them safe. Resist the urge. They’re not going to break
  3. NEVER. Under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES disrupt an omega’s nest. It’s not just a silly thing, with clothes placed willy-nilly, an omega’s nest takes planning and effort. This is what your omega built to feel safe during their heat. If they trust you enough to let you near it, be respectful.
  4. What is the generally accepted cure for moodiness, grouchiness, and sexual frustration everywhere and the whole point of this endeavor? Sex. Having sex helps release endorphins as well as helping transition into the early stages of—



Mark never read the rest of the list. Donghyuck walked into the kitchen, warm and sleep-rumpled and Mark slammed his laptop shut, blushing furiously.

Donghyuck had narrowed his eyes at him. “What’s wrong with you, Mark.” He made a swipe at Mark’s laptop before Mark quickly dodged. “What are you looking at.”

Mark blushed harder, if possible. “Porn! I’m just looking at porn! That’s why I’m hiding!” He yelled, covering his laptop with his body.

Donghyuck considered him for a second. “I don’t believe you. I would have heard it if that was the case. Also, when have you ever watched porn in the kitchen? You perv. You weirdo.” Donghyuck sat down at the kitchen counter.

“I was just uh… trying something new,” Mark mumbled.

Donghyuck never let him hear the end of that. But it was far less disastrous than the idea of letting Donghyuck know what he had actually been looking at.

A few days later, and Mark walked into the kitchen wearing a pair of boxers with a cartoon moose on them and nothing else. Donghyuck dropped his spoon into his cereal bowl, mouth agape in outrage.

“Do you care to tell me why you’re half-naked in our kitchen?” Donghyuck said pointedly.

Mark swigged the last of the orange juice from their fridge. Donghyuck’s jaw twitched.

“First of all I’m not _naked_ ,” Mark said, gesturing towards his boxers. “Second of all _you know why_ ,” Mark said, sending him a dark look.

“I really don’t,” Donghyuck said, face carefully blank.

Mark spun around and pointed at Donghyuck. “You stole all my clothes. I don’t have clothes anymore. You have all of them. That’s why I’m naked!”

Donghyuck’s left eye twitched next, “I did not _steal all of your clothes—”_

“Then why don’t I have any clothes?”

“I left you your Christmas sweaters. Those really ugly ones. And I left some of your basketball shorts—”

“I left those in Vancouver.”

“Oh.”

_Yeah, oh_. 

Donghyuck chewed on his lower lip, pensive. He capitulated, “I could take a couple pieces from my nest. It might take a bit because of the structure, and I don’t know what scents I can take away and… and.” Mark stopped him. Donghyuck was breathing heavily by this point, panic evident on his face.

Donghyuck’s reaction was worrying. Then Mark thinks about rule three. _NEVER. Under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES disrupt an omega’s nest_.

He capitulated. “Okay, okay! You can have them. I really wish I had clothes though!”

“You can just borrow mine!” Donghyuck said, recovering suspiciously quickly, face going from panicked to mildly annoyed. Donghyuck got up and walked back to his bedroom.

“And it’s your turn to wash the dishes!” he yells over his shoulder.

It was two days after meeting the gang at the bar and three days before Donghyuck’s heat. The morning was chilly and crisp. Mark had managed to filch a scarf from the back of the hall closet before going out. Thankfully, Mark’s outerwear was generally left alone during preheat. Small mercies. Otherwise he and Donghyuck would have to have a _conversation_.

Mark strolled through the quad, humming along to Justin Bieber as he walked to his next class. Just as he’s about to turn into the building of his sociology lecture, out of the blue he feels a hand on his shoulder.

“What the Jeez— oh “Mark yelped and jumped about a foot into the air before turning around.

Mark slumped over, laying a hand on his chest. “Donghyuck? You just about gave me a heart attack, jeez.”

“Don’t be dramatic, Mark” Donhyuck croaked, stalking closer to him. “I just need to— oh hell.”

In an instant, Mark was holding an armful of Donghyuck. Donghyuck buried his face deep into Mark’s scarf and his grip tightened, holding fistfuls of the back of Mark’s jacket. Mark just pulled him closer. 

“Hyuck?” Mark questioned softly. Donghyuck shook his head in response. Mark just pulled him closer to him.

Donghyuck and Mark’s apartment wasn’t exactly a mess, but it was definitely _lived in._ There was generally a bit of a pleasant clutter, with Donghyuck and Mark’s odds and ends scattered randomly throughout the apartment, from Mark’s guitar picks hiding between the couch cushions to Donghyuck’s action figurines lined up on their TV stand.

On the kitchen counter where they ate was where they kept their daily medication and breakfast cereal (Cheerios and Cocoa Puffs). Mark had a variety of traditional Chinese medicine along with some whey protein from Jaehyun, and Donghyuck kept his caffeine pills and birth control on the counter, both usually scarfed down with breakfast.

Mark had often wondered— if Donghyuck wasn’t sexually active? No he needed to nip that thought in the bud. That way lay madness. And it was none of his business anyway. Mark opened his new bottle of rhinoceros horn root (It was good for vitality!) and poured a glass of water.

Donghyuck walked in behind Mark. “Isn’t that for erectile dysfunction?”

Mark squawked, “No! This is for vitality.”

Donghyuck gave him a look. “Pretty sure that’s code for erectile dysfunction. Look it up.”

Mark blushed and pushed the bottle away from him. “I got it as a gift from Renjun.”

“Ri—ght.” Donghyuck pulled out the stool across from Mark at the counter and sat down. He cleared his throat.

“So, Mark, there’s something I need to ask you, or well, tell you, basically.”

“Yeah?” Mark asked, pouring cereal into his bowl.

“I’mgoingtobespendingmyheatwithsomeonethistime and I just wanted you to know.” Donghyuck spoke in an indecipherable rush.

Mark pauses in his cereal pouring. “Huh? What did you want me to know?”

Donghyuck took a deep breath and spoke again. “I’m going to be spending my heat with an alpha. Here. Since my nest is here. And I’m just letting you know beforehand.”

Mark stared at Donghyuck for a moment.

“Um, Mark? I think that’s enough cereal?” he said quietly.

Mark looked into his cereal bowl and back at his hand. His bowl was overflowing with Cheerios. _Crap._ Mark swallowed the lump that had unexpectedly taken residence in his throat. He didn’t know why it was there.

“I just don’t understand why.” Mark croaked. He cleared his throat. “It’s just so close to your heat. Do you know that this person is trustworthy? Have you met them more than once? Do I know them, even?”

“Woah, woah, why do you have to know them? Am I usually friends with any of your rut partners? And anyway, how many girls have you met just be—”

“That’s not the same,” Mark yelled.

Donghyuck bristled. “It’s exactly the same! You fuck girls all the time over here during your ruts, and we’re cool with it. Sometimes you don’t even know them, the last time you met them like two days before your rut! Why am I different? ”

“It’s just different, okay?” Mark said, defensive.

Donghyuck’s face crumpled and he started blinking furiously, eyes watering. Mark panicked a little and moved towards him. “Wait, I didn’t—”

“Why can’t I? Jusr because I’m an omega? While you just get to fuck whoever. Or are you just so disgusted by the thought of someone wanting me that you can’t even imagine it?” Donghyuck sobbed.

Mark moved towards Donghyuck, who by then had gotten up from the counter and was rooting through the coats in the hall closet. He caught Donghyuck’s arm, and he froze. “Hyuck, you know that’s not what I—”

Donghyuck whirled around and faced Mark. “Even if you weren’t trying to, that’s what you effectively said! That’s what you think. Don’t even try and deny it Mark Lee.”

Donghyuck slammed the door as he stormed out and the sound rang in Mark’s ears.

Donghyuck wasn’t answering his texts.

Donghyuck??

Are you ok??

I know you’re angry at me but pls tell me where you are

Pls. hyuck

I’m with Renjun. 

Leave me alone. Please.

Okay. Come back soon.

He texted Renjun and confirmed that Donghyuck is with him. Renjun answered in the affirmative, by cursing Mark out over text.

Mark let out a sigh of relief. He messed up. He knew he did. He just needed to talk to Donghyuck. They had always fought as friends. If they hadn’t learned to make up by now, they would have torn each other to shreds. He sat on the couch and waited for Donghyuck to come back.

Finally, much later that night, Donghyuck slammed into the house, took one look at Mark on the couch, and walked past him to his bedroom.

Mark had really fucked up.

When Mark needed spiritual guidance, for better or worse, he usually went to Yuta. When he needed Donghyuck-related guidance, he usually went to Jeno (Well, that’s a lie, he usually got help from Renjun, but since he was Donghyuck’s other best friend, Mark was kind of _persona non grata_ right now, so Jeno).

This was how, on a Sunday morning he found himself in Yuta and Jaehyun’s apartment, having a breakdown on their couch while Jeno rubbed his back. Yuta sat cross-legged in front of him on the floor, making a vaguely sympathetic face.

Jaehyun poked his head out from the kitchen. “You look rough, kid” Jaehyun quipped, from the threshold of the living room.

Yuta shot him a look. “He’s having a rough time, Jae, be considerate.”

Jeno looked askance at Yuta at that. “I mean yeah, but he sort of got here by his own stupidity, hyung.”

“We still have to support him.” Yuta replied resolutely. Mark felt vaguely touched.

“Unfortunately,” Jeno added begrudgingly

“Unfortunately,” Yuta repeated back with a sigh.

“This is so sad,” Jaehyun remarked, muffled by the mouthful of bagel, or whatever he’d been eating in his mouth. Yuta threw a peanut off the coffee table at Jaehyun, and he scurried back to his room.

“Guys, I’m right here!” Mark squawked.

“We know,” Yuta answered. He leaned back on his hands and looked at Mark for a long, considering moment.

He finally sighed. “Go on then, tell us what you did.”

“Um. Well. Me and Donghyuck got into a fight…” He trailed off at the end.

Jeno paused in his rubbing of Mark’s back. “We gathered,” he sighed. “What did you say?”

“Well, he said that he wanted to have an alpha over for his heat? Which is completely fine, by the way, I have people over for my ruts all the time, he could totally have— I mean, yeah whatever!”

Yuta winced delicately.

“It’s just, it’s so close to his heat you know? And like he hadn’t mentioned anybody till now, so he probably met them recently. And that’s just not safe, he could get seriously hurt. I mean have _you_ even met them, I mean—”

Jeno held a hand up. “Okay Mark, let me stop you right there. Why are you assuming Donghyuck doesn’t know how to take care of himself? When has he ever given you any indication that he doesn’t know how to.”

Mark bit his lip and looked down. He spoke quietly. “It’s just that I don’t think he’s that experienced, and it’s his heat. It’s so soon—”

“Soon for him or soon for you?” Yuta interrupted.

“I- what?” Mark looked up, confused.

Jeno and Yuta exchanged a look before turning back to Mark.

“Mark.” Yuta spoke slowly and gently, “Why do you think you feel so worried about Donghyuck in particular?”

“Because he’s my best friend? Because I don’t want him to get hurt?” Mark answered, voice cracking.

Jeno leaned his elbow on the backrest of the couch. “Mark, how many times have you picked a rut partner like a day before your rut, just because you forgot to plan?” he said, narrowing his eyes.

“That’s just… different.” Mark stated, resolute.

Yuta sighed, then spoke. “I think if Doyoung was here, he would have some more words for you, but the gist of it is this: Donghyuck has just as much right as you to sleep with who he wants when he wants, and he is old enough and mature enough to be responsible for his own safety.”

Jeno sat up, nodding at Yuta. “Hyung is right. And I know that usually you’re mature enough to understand this on your own—”

“—It’s different. It’s Donghyuck,” Mark croaked.

“Why is it different, Mark?” Yuta asked. His face shifted into a mask of carefully controlled curiosity. “Have you considered that maybe you’re just a bit… jealous,” he asked carefully.

“Why would I be jealous?” Mark asked incredulously.

“Because you’re in love with him, bro!” Jaehyun yelled, poking his head out of his bedroom briefly before closing it again.

“What?” Mark mutters, furrowing his brows.

“We were getting there, numbnuts!” Yuta yelled down the hallway. Yuta whipped his head around to look back at Mark. “Ah well, cat’s out of the bag I guess. You’re in love with Donghyuck, how do you feel?”

“I-hrng?” Mark made an indecipherable noise and raised his eyebrows.

Yuta sighed. “Jeno?” he prompted.

Jeno gently grabbed hold of both of Mark’s hands and looked deeply into Mark’s eyes. “Look, Mark, we’re past the point of denial. You are _in love_. With Donghyuck. You were probably in love with him from the day he made you organize your crayons the same way he did, scattered inside of the pencil box instead of in the package.”

“I- but why?”

“You tell me, dude,” Jeno quipped, looking vaguely nauseated.

“I mean I love Donghyuck, but I’m not _in love_ with him”

“But you are?” Jeno yelled, before Yuta cut him off, holding his hand up.

“Look, Mark, answer me honestly,” Yuta started, looking about one word away from pulling his hair out in frustration. “Do you want to talk to Donghyuck every day?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you want to stay with him? For the rest of your lives?”

“I mean, living with him is nice, I guess, when he’s not stealing all of my clothes,” Mark muttered resentfully.

“Yeah, okay,” Yuta replied, rolling his eyes. “Do you think he smells good?”

“Yuta! That’s so inappropriate,” Mark squeaked. He considered. “I mean yeah he smells good, but isn’t that also because I live with him so I’m just used to his scent?”

“That’s not how it—okay. Do you sometimes think during your dates, that it would be better if they were with him. You can’t lie about that one Mark, you’ve literally texted me that during one of your dates. Heck, Mark, you’re not even wearing socks because he took all of your clothes for his nest? Which, gross, by the way.” Yuta sighed in frustration. “Why, Mark? Just tell me why.”

“Because…”

“There’s only one answer, bro,” Jeno said tiredly.

Mark thought deeply for a moment. He thought about how he felt when Donghyuck was near him. The swoop in his stomach when he laughed. How sweet he looked when he was sleeping. Donghyuck’s perfectly arched top lip. How he smelled. How easy it was for Donghyuck to make him laugh. How much he wanted to laugh with him forever. All of those things he usually avoided dwelling on. Maybe…

“I—love Donghyuck?” Mark said wonderingly. When he thought about it, the realization had been coming for a long time. He loved Donghyuck he—

“Yes, Mark, yes.” Jeno let out a noise of relief and mimed wiping a tear from his eye. Yuta nodded sagely, as if Mark had just stated the obvious. Jaehyun whooped loudly from inside his bedroom. Mark just sat on the couch, stupefied.

Jeno spoke urgently, grabbing Mark’s hands again. “Now, you need to tell him. I mean first you need to apologize, but now you need to tell him—”

“I’m in love with him, I’m in love with Donghyuck,” Mark repeated.

“Yes, Mark.”

Mark leaned back against the couch and held his head in his hands. His childhood friend, the boy he’s known forever. He loved him? He loved him. Did Donghyuck even love him back? Would he even forgive him after what he said?

Mark didn’t see Donghyuck until that evening, around when they usually ate. Donghyuck entered the apartment, saw Mark sitting at the kitchen counter, and paused for a second before squaring his shoulders and walking past him to the snack cabinet. Donghyuck’s face looked blank, resolute. Mark noticed that he wasn’t wearing any of Mark’s clothes this time with a twinge. Strange how something that was usually so annoying could become felt in its loss. 

Mark probably only had a few moments before he fled to his room.

“Donghyuck,” he appealed, getting up from the kitchen stool and reaching towards him. Donghyuck flinched away. Mark tried not to feel hurt. Donghyuck’s eyes seemed to skit every way except for towards Mark. It was a little scary. Donghyuck was never one to avoid confrontation, but now...

Right now, he looked terrified.

“Hyuck. We should talk. I want to apologize.”

Donghyuck’s gaze finally met his, piercing and a little bit watery. “You don’t even know what you’re apologizing for Mark,” he spoke, worn and quiet. Donghyuck clutched his bag of chips a little tighter. “Let me go.”

Mark realized that he was blocking the narrow path between the kitchen counter and the fridge that would let Donghyuck escape to the hallway and back to his bedroom.

“Please, sit,” Mark pleaded, gently pushing him onto the kitchen stool across from him. Thankfully, Donghyuck obliged, even if only out of obligation or curiosity of what Mark was going to say.

“I’m sorry Donghyuck. For being a hypocrite. You’re allowed to sleep with who you want for your heat, and I trust you to take care of yourself, or get help if you feel unsafe.”

Donghyuck pursed his lips for a moment. “Thank you, Mark,” he said, face clearing up a little, body relaxing, and scent sweetening just a bit. “I guess you probably got help from Jeno to come up with that, but really, thank you for apologizing.” Donghyuck smiled just a little. A concurrent wave of pure relief goes through Mark’s body.

For a moment, he just smiled at Donghyuck like a sappy fool. Donghyuck’s smile slid into puzzlement. “Mark… is there something else you wanted to tell me?”

This was the time. This was when Mark was supposed to say _“I love you. I reacted that way because I love you. And it hurts to think of you spending your heat with another alpha. I know it’s selfish, but I got used to having you all to myself. Please. Choose me.”_

Instead, he blurted out, “You should spend your next heat with me”

“What?” Donghyuck looked confused. Actually, not just confused, stupefied.

Mark ardently wished that he could swallow his words. He wished that future Mark would show up in a time machine and just smack Mark upside the head or something. It was too late. At this point he had to say something, anything.

“It’s just- if you just wanted to spend with your heat with someone, you know I could do that.” Mark was babbling at this point. “I um, it would be safer. And we know each other. And it’s convenient, you know?”

“Mark, stop.” Donghyuck’s face was molded into a carefully blank mask. Mark was scared of what was behind it.

“I don’t need you to fuck me through my heat.” Donghyuck said, a slight shade of bitterness leaking into his voice. “I know you’re just going to fuck it up, so excuse me if I’m not that impressed by your stupid idea.”

Mark’s heart sank. After blurting it out, he realized the thing that he feared the most in the short-term was Donghyuck fucking another alpha during his heat. Getting close to them.

Jealousy. Mark was feeling pure jealousy.

Mark swallowed past his dry throat and held his hands up, “I was just suggesting, and, you know it’s up to you—”

“Forget it.” Donghyuck replied harshly, getting up from the kitchen stool, legs scraping harshly against the tile, before stalking back to his bedroom and slamming the door behind him.

Mark had fucked up. Again.

Mark wasn’t just drunk, he was _drunk_ drunk, and Doyoung looked simultaneously concerned and annoyed at Mark’s sad yammering.

“It’s just, have you ever done something dumb? Have you ever done something so dumb you just wanna like…die or something” Mark slurred sadly. “He forgave me but I ruined it. Mark slumped into the wall behind them, spilling some of the beer in his bottle. “I asked him to spend his heat with me. I’m such an idiot.”

Mark was attracting attention to their little corner of the party. He was currently wearing his most ridiculous outfit of the week, a pair of jean shorts, a red plaid shirt, and a bright yellow pair of sneakers. All his other clothes had been absorbed into the quagmire of Donghyuck’s nest. He was also wearing his glasses, of course; he couldn’t be bothered to put on his contacts that morning.

Doyoung looked Mark up and down before rubbing the space between his eyebrows, frustrated. “You know what Mark, I’ve already seen this before. I’m done with it! Go communicate with Hyuck like a grown-up, or I will shove that bottle up your ass.”

“Hyuck…” Mark hiccupped, a faraway look in his eyes. “I called him Hyuck first you know? When we were children. He’s my Hyuck. Did you know that I love him hyung? I like him so much, you know?”

Doyoung made a disgusted noise in response. “I’ve heard,” he muttered darkly, pushing Mark through the crowd until he reached the outside of the frat party (beta nus, he thinks). Mark took a breath of fresh air, before he saw a glimpse of caramel hair.

Mark whipped around to Doyoung, trying to confirm what he saw, but Doyoung had disappeared. Drats. Mark squinted at the honey-colored blur before confirming that it was Donghyuck. And not just Donghyuck, but Donghyuck with a guy. An alpha guy, if Mark was any judge at a distance. He was leaning towards Donghyuck, who in turn was leaning against the sad scraggly tree in the front yard of the dorm.

Mark knew somehow, through the drunken haze, that he was going to do something stupid, while being powerless to stop it. Well, carpe diem and all that (Carpe noctem? Whatever).

“Hey!” Mark yelled from the porch, lifting his beer bottle like a beacon. Donghyuck whipped his head around at the noise to face Mark. Through his drunken haze, he registered that Donghyuck looks _mad_. Not just mad, livid. Mark gulped down the sudden dryness of his throat before walking over, possessed.

“Yo, bro, nice fit,” the alpha said, looking Mark up and down and grinning widely.

“Thanks,” Mark said. He narrows his eyes at the alpha. The other man was wearing a muscle shirt and a snapback, normal fratbro gear, but unlike the others, he had the substance to back it up, tall, muscular, and handsome. Friendly too, going by how he was grinning at Mark.

Mark felt a wave of uncertainty go through him. He knew he wasn’t supposed to be here. He was definitely overstepping. Donghyuck kept glaring at him, like he’d burst into flames somehow by looking at him.

Think fast, he needed to think fast. He blurted out to Donghyuck, “Doyoung told me we need to talk to each other.” He turned towards the unknown alpha. “Can I borrow Donghyuck for a second.”

Donghyuck staunchly looked away from Mark. “Ignore him, Yukhei, I don’t know this guy.”

Yukhei looked between them concernedly, before realization dawned on his face. He snapped in recognition. “I’m guessing you’re Mark?” Yukhei said.

Mark started, excited. “Wait how’d you—” he caught a glimpse of Donghyuck’s unimpressed face. “Oh.” Mark wondered what they’d been saying about him. Or well, Mark could probably guess, based on Donghyuck’s murderous facial expression. Mark tried to plead with his eyes, _Please, give me a chance._ Donghyuck gave him a confused look in response… maybe he was too drunk.

Yukhei spoke up with a concerned look on his face, “Look, I get it man, but—”

“No it’s okay,” Mark interrupted. He realized that he must look like a colossal dick, barging into Donghyuck’s conversation and demanding his attention. Donghyuck didn’t need that from him anyway.

Mark’s drunken confidence dissipated a little. “I think I’m probably ruining your conversation. I’ll leave in a bit.” Donghyuck’s facial expression shifted to perplexed. Mark shifted on his feet a little and rubbed the back of his neck. “I- yeah. I’m going back to Doyoung.”

Mark was always something of a fool when it comes to love. He walked towards the street, leaving the party and towards the direction of their apartment. As soon as his feet hit the pavement, Mark started to tear up.

He knew he should let Donghyuck go. If he was being honest with himself, everything he had done, his reaction to Donghyuck choosing a heat partner, Mark asking Donghyuck to spend his heat with him, it was all to keep Donghyuck close to him somehow, irrationally. He was in love with Donghyuck; he was in love with Donghyuck and it hurt because Donghyuck didn’t like him back. He could understand that now. Mark covered his face with his sleeve, tears flowing freely now.

“Hey, asshole!” Mark heard a voice in the distance. Mark walked faster, not willing to deal with a heckler while crying.

Just as Mark reached the front of their apartment building, he felt a hand come down roughly on his shoulder, shocking him into turning around. He was faced with an out of breath Donghyuck, looking supremely annoyed.

“You supremely annoying _asshole_ ,” Donghyuck panted between gritted teeth, leant over and propping himself up with his hands on his knees.

“What? Are you okay, Hyuck?” Mark choked out, puzzled and surprised. Donghyuck was still panting. He finally stood up straight, looking straight and defiantly, right into Mark’s eyes. Mark’s still teary eyes.

“You were crying,” Donghyuck breathed out his shocked realization.

Mark said nothing, just looking back into Donghyuck’s eyes. He thought of how he could answer. _It’s nothing, I just remembered that sad movie we watched yesterday. Some dust just got in my eye. I’m just sad because you don’t love me, can’t love me._

He couldn’t choose. Mark was not only a bad liar but also not particularly brave.

Donghyuck’s face shifted. “Let’s get inside, okay?” he stated, grabbing Mark’s wrist and pulling him inside the apartment building. Mark followed, unresisting.

They didn’t speak until they reached the front door of the apartment and Mark reached out gently, grabbing hold of Donghyuck’s wrist. “Wait, can we just talk here? I’m worried that if we go inside, you’re just going to go back into your room and not speak to me.”

Donghyuck’s jaw tensed for a moment, before he sighed and leaned back against the apartment door. Donghyuck’s scent was inscrutable. Of course, he smelled like the party that they were just at, cigarette smoke and bad decisions, but underneath the sweetness of preheat, there was also a touch of trepidation, and something Mark couldn’t name.

“You wanted to talk, so talk.” Donghyuck shrugged.

Mark was usually not particularly good with words, but what he lacked in that eloquence he made up tenfold in pure honesty and unassuming innocence, the one thing he assumed actually made people like him and the one weapon that he could use on Donghyuck.

“Why wouldn’t you spend your heat with me? Why would you rather spend it with that guy from the frat party,” he blurted out. Mark's head buzzed afterwards, unable to compute what he had just asked. Abstractly, he thought, _Doyoung would be proud. Communication._

Donghyuck winced delicately, closing his eyes and lightly banging the back of his head against the apartment door. He opened his eyes and considered Mark for a moment.

“Why do you think that I didn’t want to spend my heat with you,” Donghyuck asked plainly.

“Because… you don’t want to spend your heat with me? Because you don’t like me how I like you?”

“Mark,” Donghyuck said his name like a curse. “All I do is like you. It’s kind of a curse for me, personally.”

Mark’s head was buzzing again. “What?” Mark replied dumbly. “You-you… what?”

“Yes you! I like you, Mark. That’s why I can’t just spend my stupid heat with you. Not because I’d hate it, but because I’d like it too much, okay? Are you happy now? Are you happy that you made me ruin our friendship like that? Because I personally—”

Mark surged forward and kisses him, cutting off the torrent of words. It’s awkward, immediately. Their teeth clacked together and Donghyuck made a small noise of pain. Mark pulled back for a second, looking at a slightly confused, slightly amazed Donghyuck.

Donghyuck, ever persevering, moved to speak again. He choked out, “You don’t even like—”

Mark cut him off with his mouth. This time the kiss went more smoothly. Mark tasted the perfect arch of Donghyuck’s upper lip. In the back of his mind, he registered relief, the consolation of finally fulfilling his fixation. He was kissing _Donghyuck._

Donghyuck’s mouth was just as hot and sweet as Mark expected. Donghyuck tilted his head to the side to accommodate him, and Mark’s stomach swooped with thought _oh god, he wants me too. He likes this. Likes me._

Donghyuck parted his lips just slightly and Mark sweeped his tongue in. By this point, Mark couldn’t distinguish between the sweetness of Donghyuck’s mouth and the pheromones staining the air. Mark bit Donghyuck’s lower lip slightly and Donghyuck made the sweetest little involuntary mewl. Mark groaned in response.

Just as Mark’s hands started playing with the hem of Donghyuck’s jacket, the building elevator made a loud _ding!,_ and Donghyuck jumped about a foot in the air. He pulled back from Mark a little, panting. “Let’s get this inside.”

Mark groaned and fumbled with the key, dropping the key at one point, while Donghyuck just stood back, smirking and giggling at him.

Mark pulled Donghyuck through the entryway before pinning him to the door and closing it.

“Are you laughing at me?” Mark asked lowly, raising his eyebrows and panting as he pressed Donghyuck against the door. Donghyuck paused for a second, swallowing at Mark’s tone, before pulling Mark into another searing kiss.

If Mark thought their last kiss was a fire, this kiss was an inferno. Donghyuck was just _so much_ from the way he clutched at the back of Mark’s jacket as they kissed, pulling Mark closer, to the sweet little noises he kept making and then cutting off. Mark wondered what he would sound like when he was unrestrained, free to be as loud as he wanted. The thought made Mark a little light-headed.

At some point, Mark pulled Donghyuck over to the couch, and he straddled his lap, continuing the kiss. Mark pulled Donghyuck in by his lower back, and _oh._ That was new _._ He could feel Donghyuck making small, aborted movements against Mark’s thighs, almost involuntary. He knew if he reached down, he could feel where Donghyuck was hard in his jeans. Mark pulled back from the kiss, panting, Donghyuck whining high-pitched in response, before moving to Mark’s neck, not quite stopping the movement of his hips. 

Mark catalogued that noise for future reference, almost cutting off his train of thought. “Wait” Mark panted. “We should talk I think…” Mark thumbed at the distracting hint of skin from where Donghyuck’s shirt had pulled up a bit over his stomach.

“Yeah… “Donghyuck repeated back faintly, throwing his head back and revealing the pretty arch of his neck. “Talking,” Donghyuck repeated. Mark couldn’t resist. He leaned forward to kiss Donghyuck’s pulse point before biting gently, not nearly hard enough to worry about a mating bite, but enough that Donghyuck jolted in his lap a bit.

Donghyuck gasped, and his hips stuttered between them, before letting out a low whine. Donghyuck looked at Mark’s face and flushed an even deeper shade of red, if that was even possible, before hiding his face in the crook of Mark’s neck. Mark slowly started rubbing up and down Donghyuck’s back.

“Did you just—”

“Shut. Up,” Donghyuck slurred tiredly. Mark couldn’t help smiling like a fool in response, even as he was painfully aroused. Donghyuck came. Just from kissing Mark. _Wow._

Mark schooled his facial expression before gently pulling Donghyuck’s head from where he was hiding. Donghyuck resisted a little before pulling back and squirming a little uncomfortably.

Mark rubbed at Donghyuck’s back again in a comforting gesture, before asking gently, “Are you okay?”

“Yes, god, I’m fine. More than fine.” Donghyuck looked between Mark’s eyes. “Stop laughing at me. I can tell you were laughing at me.”

“Not laughing, just happy,” Mark answered gently. Donghyuck went back to blushing furiously, before reluctantly climbing off Mark’s lap to sit beside Mark on the couch.

Donghyuck shifted uncomfortably on the couch, probably feeling the mess in his pants, now that he’s come down. Cum and _slick,_ Mark realized. Donghyuck was probably squirming from the slick in his underwear, running down his thighs.

Mark felt his face flaming at the thought, a jolt of arousal going through him. _I did that,_ he thought. _Damn._ Mark _really_ wished they got naked before they had sex.

For now, Mark cleared his throat a bit. “Do you want to take a shower? We can both change into pajams and then talk?”

Donghyuck hit Mark on the arm. “You’re the reason we didn’t talk before!”

Mark held his arms up in surrender. “Guilty as charged,” he capitulated, smiling ruefully. Donghyuck laughed a little at that.

Donghyuck just looked at Mark for a second, smile softening a bit, a curious expression taking over his face. Mark squirmed a little. “Well, go on then!” Mark said, swatting Donghyuck on the thigh and laughing. “Go take a shower and we can talk. I’ll leave some pajamas by the sink.”

“Fine,” Donghyuck sighs, before trudging to the bathroom. “Give me your comfy sweats, though,” he said, looking back at Mark over his shoulder.

Thirty minutes later, Donghyuck was sitting on the couch, towel slung over his shoulders and Mark’s favorite comfy sweats slung over his hips. Mark himself was wearing his ratty joggers and one of Donghyuck’s sweaters. (He’d originally been shirtless due to Donghyuck’s pilfering of most of Mark’s home shirts, but Donghyuck had protested at that.)

Donghyuck looked good. All clean and fluffy from the shower as well as relaxed and comfortable. He smelled good too, sweet and calm. Mark thought to himself that if he knew that this would be the effect of a few minutes of dry humping, he would have done it a lot sooner. Donghyuck sat sideways on the couch, leaning against the armrest and drawing his knees up in front of him. Mark sat across from him, regarding him softly.

Donghyuck cleared his throat and waved an imperious hand at Mark. He blushed a little. _Cute._ “You wanted to speak, so speak.”

Mark thought for a moment. “Well.” He took a deep breath. “You probably already know since I blurted it out, but I like you. I like you a lot. A lot a lot. Like um. Actually I have something to say. Sort of.. I- uh.”

“You love me, right?” Donghyuck cut off Mark’s floundering.

Mark startled at that. He took a deep breath, heart beating faster. “I-yes. How’d you know?’ Mark choked out before panic closed his throat.

Donghyuck furrowed his brows, “Woah, woah. It’s okay. I meant that you love me. And that I love you too. And we’ve been skirting around that for a while you know. And—”

Mark’s whole body sagged in relief. “You love me? You love me too? Oh my god.” Mark moved his body towards Donghyuck automatically, unconsciously—

Donghyuck pressed a hand to the center of Mark’s chest, holding him back. “Easy, tiger.” He swallowed a little. “You can’t just keep kissing me every time I make a confession. We need to communicate,” he said, a little breathless.

Mark looked down and realized himself. He jolted a bit. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry. Yes, communicate. We need to communicate,” Mark said, blushing and pulling back. “I guess you’re a little pent up,” Donghyuck said, smirking.

“So are you!” Mark blushed.

Donghyuck looked embarrassed at that. “I never said I wasn’t! And my heat’s in two days, what’s your excuse?”

Mark shrugged. “That’s fair,” he capitulated. Mark paused, not knowing what to say.

Donghyuck chewed on his lip for a second. “I guess I should tell you that I know because Renjun smacked me over the head and told me I was an idiot. And that you’re an even bigger idiot who’s loved me forever. And that for someone who has a big head, you really don’t have any brain cells. And that—”

“Okay, I get it.” Mark paused. “I actually only figured out from Jeno and Yuta.”

“That I love you?” Donghyuck asked, raising his eyebrows. Mark’s stomach swooped again at the confession.

“No, that _I_ love you, Donghyuck.” Mark smiled. It feels better the second time he says it. He wondered how it would feel the third time he says it, the fifth.

“Oh, you are an idiot.” Donghyuck stated, chipperly, giving Mark a resolute nod.

Mark burst out laughing. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” Mark smiled fondly at Donghyuck, soft and precious. “I love you. And I’m an idiot.”

Donghyuck blushed furiously and squawked. “Hey! Backhanded!”

Mark only laughed and moves to pounce on Donghyuck once more, pinning Donghyuck’s arms to the couch pillow behind him. “Yeah? What are you going to do about it,” Mark asked lowly. Donghyuck looked between Mark’s eyes for a second, considering.

Donghyuck took a deep breath, finally. “Mark, there’s something I need to show you.”

Donghyuck had been alternating between rubbing the back of his neck and chewing on his lips since they entered his bedroom five minutes ago.

Mark looked at the veritable structure taking up most of Donghyuck’s bed.

“Are those my knee socks?”

Donghyuck sighed. “Yeah.”

“Huh.” Mark squinted. “Is that my Van Halen shirt?”

Donghyuck huffed through his nose, tongue poking out of his cheek. “Yeah.” Somehow Donghyuck had gotten even redder.

“Wait. Is that my Vancouver Christmas sweat—”

“Yes! Yes! Probably!” Donghyuck threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. Mark suppressed his smile. If Donghyuck thought that Mark was laughing at him, Mark would surely lose his life, or at least all his traditional medicine would be flushed down the toilet. Instead, he walked to where Donghyuck’s bed was, in the center of the room.

Donghyuck huffed when Mark moved toward the bed but didn't stop him. It took some effort to try to find a way into Donghyuck’s nest. His bed was covered in Mark’s clothes, all in neat, folded piles with a couple of pieces spread out in the center. Mark caught sight of one of his gym shorts in there somewhere.

Mark carefully climbed to the center of the bed and bounced a little. Mark patted the spot next to him on the bed. “Get in.”

“You know that it’s incredibly rude to intrude on an omega’s nest.” Donghyuck huffed, arms crossed over his chest.

“Full of my clothes,” Mark answered, raising his eyebrows. Donghyuck ducked his head down for a second. He looked… embarrassed? It wasn’t a look he was used to seeing on Donghyuck.

Mark softened a little. “Come on Donghyuck. I just want to cuddle a bit.” Mark made a pleading face at Donghyuck.

“Well since you asked.” He huffed and climbed in next to Mark. Mark tucked Donghyuck into his side, head pillowed on the top of his chest, just like many movie nights of ere.

“So…” Mark vaguely gestured at Donghyuck’s nest.

“So.” Donghyuck huffed. “Omegas nest with the clothes of the people that they feel most comfortable with,” he muttered, moving to the crook of Mark’s neck, hiding probably.

Mark flipped their positions so that Donghyuck was lying face-up on the bed and Mark was straddling him. “You’re comfortable with me.” Mark smirked.

Donghyuck rolled his eyes at him brattily. “What made you guess?” He pouted a little. “Yes, Mark, I’m comfortable with you. Some might say I even love you, though it’s not like I already have told you that.”

Mark smiled at that, softening. “I’m glad you are, Hyuck. And I love you too.” he said.(He was right, it felt even better the third time he said it.) Donghyuck blushed at that. “Though it would be nice if I could have some clothes to wear occasionally sometimes, you know?”

Donghyuck winced, “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Mark moved to lay back down next to Donghyuck, Donghyuck coming closer to lay on Mark’s chest. “Anyway, it’s cute.” Mark smirked.

“I’m always cute.”

“…Okay.” Mark said after a beat. Donghyuck swatted him weakly for that. Donghyuck blinked slowly and yawned into Mark’s neck. He would probably be asleep in minutes, but Mark had one more question. “Wait, I just wanted to ask you one last thing,” Mark asked gently.

Donghyuck frowned into Mark’s chest. “What?” he answered, voice slurred with sleepiness.

“You aren’t going to be sleeping with anyone else for your heat, right?”

Donghyuck spoke with his eyes closed. “Actually, I already asked Jeno. Sorry.”

Mark tensed underneath Donghyuck’s body, “Really?”

Donghyuck surged up, suddenly awake, and started whacking Mark with the pillow next to him. “Seriously? After all that? You think I’d sleep with Jeno?”

Mark shielded himself from the attack. “Okay, okay, but did you ask Jeno? I’m just wondering…” Donghyuck huffed, sitting cross-legged on the bed. “No, I never asked Jeno. I never asked anyone. I was just thinking about it, before you kind of freaked out.”

“Oh.”

Donghyuck took a deep breath. “Well anyway. Considering circumstances, I was kind of hoping you were going to spend my heat with me?” he asked, uncharacteristically nervous.

Mark leaned forward and kissed him gently. He leaned back and regarded a blushing post-kiss Donghyuck for a moment.

Mark smiled. “Yes, I would love to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter mark and donghyuck wrangle with heat sex, so stay tuned!!
> 
> this fic title was inspired by a Pablo Neruda poem about [socks](https://poets.org/poem/ode-my-socks). although, really here, it's about a lack of socks. anyway, I've been affectionately calling it my sock fic for a while :), though i fear i don't mention them quite enough in the fic.
> 
> if you've gotten this far, thank you for reading!! this is my first nctv fic, and i hope to write many more. if you can, please leave comments and kudos, i'd really appreciate it. <3
> 
> i'm here on [twt](https://twitter.com/stardust_made) if you have questions, or want to talk, or want to endure my scattered twitter presence :P 💕


	2. I'd love to see me from your point of view

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Donghyuck's nest. Full of Mark's clothes. He might as well have flayed his heart open for Mark when he showed him. Hours spent choosing the right clothes, with the right scent, placing them correctly in the pile, folding and organizing. All of Mark’s clothes, so haphazardly thrown over bed frames and bathroom floors and rescued (stolen) by Donghyuck and added to his nest in preparation for his heat.
> 
> He doesn't really know if Mark understood how much it meant to be there. Which was probably for the best.
> 
> **...**  
> 
> 
> It takes time and intimacy to become comfortable enough to share a heat with someone. They have about fifteen hours, so long as he doesn’t end up strangling Mark first. _Deep breaths_. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> special thanks to tricia (@wakeupmoonchild) for betaing this chapter 💕💕  
> note the rating change from M to E, and also warning for referenced body image insecurity!  
> 

Donghyuck drowsed awake, completely warm, comfortable, and content. Everything around him smelled safe and calm. Not as annoyingly blank as it usually was on the days leading up to his heat. Donghyuck sighed, burrowing further into the blankets where everything smelled safe and warm.

Usually, in order to take away the awful blank smell, Donghyuck had to nest copiously, and Mark only had so many clothes to spare. Really though, he should be thanked for helping to put some of Mark's more neglected clothes into rotation. He had even swallowed his pride this time and asked for some of Mark's gym clothes; the whole ordeal was intensely embarrassing, but now Donghyuck feels quite proud of himself. His instincts purred at having created a perfectly constructed, perfectly scented nest. He wouldn't even need to raid Mark's laundry hamper one last time. 

Donghyuck jolted at the sound of a small chuckle, sensing an intruder in his nest. He heard a voice, rough, as if recently asleep. "Hey, were you planning on waking up yet?" He stared at Mark, revealed to be the nest intruder, as memories of last night washed back over him. Kisses, a confession. _Mark said he loved me_ _._

_I told Mark I loved him._

Donghyuck finally spoke, his voice croaky from sleep. "You stayed."

"I mean, well, yeah, we both kind of fell asleep here last night," Mark answered, rubbing the back of his neck and shifting in the sheets. 

Donghyuck coughed, clearing his throat. "You're um." Donghyuck blinked up at Mark. "You're in my nest," he finished, more quietly than he intended.

Donghyuck's nest. Full of Mark's clothes. He might as well have flayed his heart open for Mark when he showed him. Hours spent choosing the right clothes, with the right scent, placing them correctly in the pile, folding and organizing. All of Mark’s clothes, so haphazardly thrown over bed frames and bathroom floors and rescued (stolen) by Donghyuck and added to his nest in preparation for his heat. 

He doesn't really know if Mark understood how much it meant to be there. Which was probably for the best.

Mark furrowed his eyebrows slightly, "Oh. Is this not okay? Should I have gone back to bed?" He asked, shifting a little under the covers. 

Donghyuck sputtered a little, "No duh, of course not! I invited you here, I just meant— never mind."

Mark shrugged, "You just looked a little... skeeved, I guess. Anyway." He sat up, pressing the back of his hand to Donghyuck's forehead, feeling for heat symptoms. “How are you feeling right now?” he asked softly. “Your heat is in what—" Mark pulled out his phone from under the pillow, tapping a pop-up notification before laying it face down in the sheets between them. "—fifteen hours?" 

Donghyuck quickly grabbed Mark's phone from out of the sheets. “You have a calendar alert? For my heat?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Renjun has one too." Mark demurred, suddenly shy.

Donghyuck sighed. “I... I’m not even going to get started on that. You're so fucking odd Mark Lee, I swear." He shook his head and let the confusing statements go. _For now_. 

Mark smiled sheepishly, "Come here, it’s only seven right now" he sighed, laying back against the pillows after subtly moving a pair of his gym shorts to the side.

Donghyuck glared at him for disturbing the nest. Mark responded with a pained, apologetic noise. Donghyuck sighed and moved to lay against Mark's chest, nose pressed into the crook of his neck. He tangled their legs together, closing his eyes.

He scented Mark, cotton warmth filling up the inside of his skull and making Donghyuck melt against Mark’s chest. Donghyuck reasoned that he was just especially susceptible to scent right before his heat, and Mark was _there_ wasn’t he? At least now he knew why his nest smelled so good.

Contrary to the warmth he felt from the contact, Donghyuck felt a cold pit in his stomach.

He sighed before speaking. "Mark, there's something we need to talk about." 

Mark hummed in response, already halfway back to sleep. Donghyuck considered just letting him rest, before remembering the timeframe. _Fifteen hours._ He poked Mark harshly in the ribs and got a whine in response.

"Mark, we need to talk about my heat. You know the one that's due in fifteen hours, or so your phone said? The one that you said you'd spend with me?"

Mark jolted at that, "Right. Yes. Heat. With you." Donghyuck rolled his eyes at his one-word answers. Mark dislodged Donghyuck and turned on his side to lay face to face with Donghyuck. 

Donghyuck's stomach turned. "We should have sex before my heat, so you'll know what to expect," he blurted out to Mark, "And we need to talk about what's going to happen. What you'll expect and if you're okay with spending it with me."

Mark furrowed his brows, "Of course I want to spend your heat with you. Do you not want to spend it with me?"

_Not quite._

Donghyuck sighed, sitting upright and nudging at Mark to do the same. "I want to spend my heat with you," he said with conviction before deflating a little. He bit his lip, hesitating. "It's just...Have you ever been with a male omega before? You know it's different, right?” 

Mark frowned. 'I- well, yeah. I mean I know it's different. Of course, it's different, do you think I'm like, biased or—"

“It’s not that! It’s just that you’re so straight… And, uh. So type,” Donghyuck added. Mark looked wounded at the insinuation.

“Well, yeah, I am type; I’m attracted to mostly omegas and some betas, but what makes you think that I’m straight?”

“Well, you know. It's just your fashion sense, your haircut, who you are as a person, and your—”

Mark holds a hand up to cut him off. “Hold on, I’m texting Doyoung all of this, now you can experience the ‘gender-sex-type is a spectrum’ lecture.”

“No, wait, don't!” Donghyuck grabbed Mark's hand from where he was reaching for his phone. Mark snorted and turned his hand over, lacing their fingers together before he spoke. 

Mark looked at him for a second, considering, “Someone once told me that we should communicate. So, let's communicate. What did you mean when you said that it's different?"

🧦

When Mark and Donghyuck first met, it was immediately apparent they were very different people. Where Donghyuck was brash and loud, Mark was often soft and quiet. Where Donghyuck gave affection with physical contact and loud declarations, Mark could only express it in half-uttered statements and big, nervous eyes.

Over the years, they learned to make their differences work because they agreed on the important things, music philosophy, and the way they loved: deeply, and involving their whole hearts. In the end their differing strengths and flaws complemented one another.

But it was their flaws and insecurities that lay in different places. Mark’s anxiety got the best of him when it came to expressing his emotions. For Donghyuck, it was usually his body and how people view it.

In a way he knew Mark would never understand, at least not the way Donghyuck did. Mark had never been told that his body was disgusting or a marvel or a sideshow horror. Mark had the privilege of never having to think of his body at all. As a male omega, Donghyuck didn’t have that luxury.

“I guess I just never knew that’s how you felt. All this time?” 

Donghyuck sighed. “It’s not like I feel that way all the time. It comes and goes. I just need to make sure it’s okay because I’ve had some bad reactions in the past.”

Mark just gave him a look. Sadness, pity maybe. Some emotion that Donghyuck didn’t want to look at too closely because it made his stomach coil.

Mark interjected, “Donghyuck, I—"

“No, Mark, it’s okay. And don’t give me that look, it’s not like I let that stuff affect me. I just needed to make sure, okay?” Donghyuck spoke resolute and defiant. 

Mark’s face shifted in a way that he couldn’t quite interpret.

“I know. It doesn’t affect you. But it is heavy and I’m sorry you’d been dealing with it on your own. I wish you’d told me.” Mark spoke calmly.

Donghyuck huffed in response to that. “Well, it’s not a big deal most of the time, so why would I tell you. What could you do about it anyway?” 

“You said that someone had a bad reaction. Who— I mean, what was that about?” Mark gripped tightly at the blanket between them. ~~~~

“Well, I guess a lot of people aren’t attracted to male omegas. Which, I don’t understand personally because I think I’m pretty amazing.” Donghyuck said, half-heartedly trying to lighten the mood. Donghyuck’s stomach churned when Mark only gave him a pensive look.

“Oh, well, you know.” Donghyuck continued. “A lot of people who flirt with me think they’re okay with me being a male omega at first. Then they end up realizing that they’re not. Or some people are just mean. I just want to make sure you know what you’re getting into. Since after my heat starts, it’s not going to feel very good if you reject me.” 

Mark furrowed his eyebrows. “The other day when you told me about spending your heat with someone, you asked if I was disgusted that someone would even want me. I didn’t really understand what you meant; did you mean that because you were a male omega?”

“Well, yes. No. I don't know. You know how people feel about male omegas. When you were all like ‘you can’t spend your heat with anyone’, it felt like you were implying that it’s because I was a male omega, and you were weirded out by it. Or you thought I needed extra, I don’t know… effort?” Donghyuck snorted. “Now I know it’s just your dumbass alpha protective thing or whatever.”

Mark winced in response. “Donghyuck, I am so sorry. I really didn’t mean it like that, and no one should ever treat you like that either. I never meant it in a way that would hurt you, and I’m very sorry that I was so hypocritical about the whole thing.” Mark sighed. “Yeah. I’m a dumbass possessive alpha. But that doesn’t excuse it.” He paused, shifting on the bed and running a hand through his hair. “Also... I actually was jealous too.” he muttered, running a hand through his hair.

Donghyuck’s stomach erupted into butterflies at the admittance, his ears going red. He sniffed, touched by the confession. “Well. Don’t be a dumbass then, and I’ll forgive you.”

Mark leaned forward and cupped Donghyuck’s cheekbone. “You know that I’m dumb when it comes to you.” a sappy smile graced his lips as he stroked his thumb over the thin skin under his eye, “It’s because living with you makes me lose all my braincells.” 

Donghyuck only nodded, straight-faced in response before straddling Mark, pinning him to the bed and hitting him with the pillow next to him.

“Say it again!” he screamed over Mark's hysterical laughter. Mark grabbed the pillow, putting an end to Donghyuck’s soft attack. He looked at him fondly for a moment, before his face grew serious.

 _What’s with you now,_ Donghyuck wondered.

Suddenly, Donghyuck was displaced in Mark’s lap as he moved to sit up in bed. Large hands grasped at his waist to keep him balanced. Donghyuck blinked a couple of times, adjusting to Mark’s face, suddenly much closer to his.

“I guess I didn’t really understand then because, well, I just liked you so much. And you’re so confident, usually.” Mark’s mouth twisted a little, “Well, I guess I couldn’t imagine anyone treating you like that. I really don’t—” 

“Mark it’s _fine._ I already know that you’re dumb.” Mark squawked in response. Donghyuck snorted. “All I wanted to do was have a conversation about my upcoming heat. Don’t people normally do that? All of these conversations about gender and society, I might as well have invited Doyoung to help me through—”

Mark covered Donghyuck’s mouth with a pained expression. “Please don’t mention Doyoung in our nest.” He sighed. “And don’t think I don’t notice you glossing this over! We’re going to talk more after—”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll talk later.” Donghyuck blushed. “Are you going to have sex with me before my heat starts or not?” Donghyuck blustered. _Fuck._ He didn’t know what to do. He’s dealt with Mark in embarrassing situations since they were children, but in this field, he felt unmoored and off-balance, at a clear disadvantage. For once. Donghyuck didn’t know how to flip it.

Mark nodded resolutely, “First we need to determine whether we’re going to spend your heat together or not. If we can’t for whatever reason, that’s okay. We can just sit this one out.”

Donghyuck nodded, biting at the free edge of his thumbnail. To be honest, he really hoped they wouldn’t have to sit this one out. 

Mark spoke, blushing slightly. “You do have a good point though; we should have sex before your heat starts. That way I can know what you might need. And yeah. It’s rule four.”

“Rule what?” Donghyuck asked, perplexed. 

Mark shook his head. “Never mind.” He cleared his throat, awkward. “Are we using condoms?”

Donghyuck swallowed. “I know I’m clean. I’m also on birth control, so if you’re clean, maybe—"

“I’m clean. I haven’t been with anyone since my last rut, and I used protection and got tested after, you know, standard stuff.” 

“Yeah… I haven’t been with anyone since high school you know, so...” Donghyuck felt his blood rushing to his ears. God, this was so awkward.

“—knot? Have you ever taken a knot before?” Mark asked with wide, innocent eyes.

Donghyuck paused for a second. “Um...” he dragged out the syllable, idly fiddling with the bedspread. “Well, not technically, I haven’t. I’ve only been with a beta in high school, you know that.”

Mark furrowed his brows. “Not technically?” 

Donghyuck shifted, thinking of the shoebox under their very bed. “I mean. Well. _You know._ Do I really have to say it?” Mark just raised his eyebrows, making a questioning _hmm_ noise. 

Donghyuck blushed furiously. Did Mark really have to make him say everything out loud. “I have knotting dildos for my heats. I mean, who doesn’t, am I right?” 

“Mark?” Donghyuck prompted at the lack of response. Mark blinked twice, shifting a little on the bed, and _oh._

Mark cleared his throat, blinking rapidly. “Can I, um. Can I see them?” he asked, voice cracking towards the end of the question. 

Donghyuck sputtered. “What! No! You perv!” Donghyuck picked up the pillow again, fully intending to choke him with it. Mark quickly intervened this time, gently but firmly removing the pillow from Donghyuck’s clenched, belligerent hands.

“I just want to see what they’re like. It’s just- I want to know what you’re prepared for.”

“But _why_. They’re just normal heat toys!”

“Okay, just, show me and we can see.” Mark looked at him expectantly.

Donghyuck sighed. He didn’t really understand the point of this endeavor, and he would rather just stay in the nest. With Mark in it, it smelled so perfect, he never wanted to leave. Donghyuck reluctantly got up to pull the box out from under his bed. 

He sat down cross-legged in the center of the bed and set the shoebox on his lap before flipping up the cardboard lid, “Ta-da.” He waved a sarcastic hand in front of his toys.

In the box lay his two trusty knotting dildos, one smaller and one larger, for when his heat peaked, as well as a vibrator and a mishmash of charging cables and lube packets. 

Mark looked to Donghyuck for permission before he reached his hand out. When Donghyuck nodded, he picked up the larger of the two toys and placed it gently in his hand, turning it over before pressing the button that inflated the knot.

Donghyuck squawked in response, blushing. “Hey! You didn’t have to… you know!”

Mark squeezed the knot a bit and looked up at him “These are pretty small, Hyuck. We’re going to have to work up to it I think.”

Donghyuck sputtered. He didn’t know what to say to this… this slander of his favorite knotting dildo. He grabbed the shaft from Mark’s hand and set it next to him, hiding it in the sheets. “You’re just… You’re not wearing your glasses.” 

Mark gave him a significant look, squinting faintly. _Astigmatism_ , he thought distractedly. Currently Donghyuck’s brain was melting into a steaming, grey puddle.

Donghyuck sputtered. “It can’t be _that_ different, Mark.” He rolled his eyes. “You alphas are all so obsessed with your knots.” 

Mark only shook his head sagely. “No, it’s just _different,_ you know. Most knotting toys are, you know, not that big because that’s not exactly needed for a non-partnered heat? Like there’s no pheromones, you know? And also, it’s probably more practical for regular use. But you’ll be spending your heat with me this time so...” 

Donghyuck’s stomach swooped at the thought. The thing about spending heats alone was that they just _sucked._ Without pheromones, without skin-to-skin contact, heats were a frustrating ordeal. Masturbation was a necessity but never satisfying. With each subsequent orgasm, Donghyuck inevitably felt worse every time he came, until it reached a peak and then a sluggish comedown. The toys weren’t perfect, but they took the edge off somewhat. The idea of it being Mark instead…

“You’re full of shit.”

“I’d prove it to you, but we probably can’t have penetrative sex so close to your heat. Anyway, we’ll work up to it.” Mark rubbed the back of his neck, smiling ruefully.

There was always the risk of triggering a heat early by having intercourse too close to a heat. Donghyuck almost wanted to say fuck it, but it could be dangerous to extend a heat for longer than scheduled, not to mention inconvenient. Donghyuck still needed an answer.

“You said that you would have sex with me before my heat started.” Donghyuck pouted.

Mark swallowed, gaze darkening. He moved closer, gently pushing Donghyuck to lie back flat on the bed. “Who said I wouldn’t be having sex with you?” 

🧦

Mark leaned forward to press his lips against Donghyuck's, and just like that, they were kissing. Just like before, he felt that overwhelming feeling rise in his chest, like when Mark said he loved him that first time and when he said it the second time. The third. 

The thing is, Donghyuck has kissed people before, but they were never Mark. None of them have ever leaned into it quite like Mark does. None of them tried to nibble his nose and then apologize immediately afterwards by saying it looked cute.

Mark moved to his neck before kissing his way up under his ear. “You smell so good,” he murmured, vibrations passing over Donghyuck’s skin and tickling the small hairs on his neck. He shivered, closing his eyes, “Yeah, it’s um.” He swallowed, blinking his eyes open. “It’s the heat.” How did he sound so wrecked already? It was just his heat...

Suddenly Donghyuck sat up, Mark leaning back to accommodate the sudden movement.

“Wait.” Donghyuck croaked. “What are we going to do, Mark? You know I can’t—”

“It’s okay,” Mark interjected with a smirk, pulling the knotting dildo from the mussed sheets. He passed the toy to his other hand before playing with the buttons. “We’re working up to it, remember?”

Donghyuck’s breath caught in his chest, and he felt the hot arousal in his stomach burn brighter, a part of him just itching for _something_ inside him. But another part of him wanted something different, he wanted—

“I wish it was you,” he whimpered, voice coming out whinier than he intended. He winced a little. _Fuck,_ why did he say that? In _that_ way? 

Mark’s gaze darkened before he leaned down to kiss him deeply before biting at his earlobe. “I wish it was me too. Soon, baby.”

Donghyuck shivered at that, uncontrollably. Mark moved downwards, sucking at the thin skin beneath Donghyuck’s ear, and _oh._ Mark was so—

Donghyuck tugged a little at the hair on Mark’s nape. Mark flinched, blinking up at him with wide eyes. “Donghyuck?”

Donghyuck felt warmth bloom in his chest and the pit of his stomach. It was Mark, just his Mark, and the mole under his eye and the one on his neck.

“I was just making sure that- whatever- I mean- just come here,” Donghyuck stuttered out, uncharacteristically flustered. Mark huffed out a small laugh before leaning back down to capture his mouth, sucking on his upper lip.

This time Donghyuck leaned into it, wrapping his legs around Mark’s waist and rucking his hands up under Mark's (his) sweater.

It was just Mark. His Mark, uncomplicated, with his sweet mouth and his wide eyes, and his unbitten nails (compared to Donghyuck's, which had turned to fucking _stubs_ over the course of the week), and just _Mark._ He pulled the sweater off Mark's body, getting caught at his elbows and wrists.

Donghyuck just stared at a lean, shirtless Mark for a second. He swallowed a little before pulling him down into another kiss, arms curling around Mark's back, feeling the muscles flex.

Donghyuck knew Mark's body, had seen Mark grow from his awkward teenager phase to his presentation as an alpha. He'd seen him shirtless plenty of times. He knows the pattern of moles on his chest and neck, the hard, lean planes of his chest and stomach, and he knows that perfect spot at the crook of Mark's neck that smelled most like him, the place Donghyuck liked to go to hide from the world for a little bit. Yet, being able to touch and to look in with intent, without being pushed away, was so different, almost overwhelming after all of the abstract, achy _wanting_ that he's lived with for years. 

Donghyuck whimpered, unconsciously grinding against Mark's thigh before he worked to cut the movement off, Mark groaning in response. Donghyuck felt himself flush, knowing that he would finish too quickly if he continued. 

Mark leaned back from the kiss, panting, smiling a little when Donghyuck whined at the loss of Mark's lips.

"You're sensitive, aren't you?" He spoke, hushed and low between their bodies. "You could come like this, couldn't you, just grinding against my thigh like you did last night?" Mark's voice comes out gravelly and just a touch strained. Donghyuck flushed at his words, arousal spiking along with a hint of embarrassment. 

Donghyuck pushed at Mark's chest in protest, receiving a laugh in response. Donghyuck bit his lip and swallowed. "Well, it's not like you're not the same," he rasped, sliding his hand down Mark's stomach, feeling it twitch in response. He paused at the waistband of Mark's joggers for a moment, breathing slowly and looking into Mark's dark, lidded eyes before sliding his hand down into his pants. Mark is _hard,_ and he feels good in his palm, and _big,_ bigger than his knotting dildos. Donghyuck felt a bit lightheaded at the thought of Mark inside of him during his heat, almost whining in despair at not having him _now._

Mark threw his head back, groaning, cock twitching under his palm and pushing into his hand. Donghyuck's heart beat faster at Mark's response before sinking in rejection as Mark pushed his hand away. 

“Not yet,” Mark murmured, eyebrows furrowed.

Donghyuck swallowed, “Sh-should I not—”

Mark’s face softened a bit, hand coming up to cup Donghyuck’s cheekbone. “Let’s save that for later. This is about you.” Mark swiped his thumb over the skin under his eyes, over the moles on his cheeks. Mark gazed up into Donghyuck’s eyes. “But I think you’re wearing too many clothes. “

“Well, that’s your fault.” Donghyuck quipped mulishly.

Donghyuck’s head was buzzing. He felt his nerves ball up in the pit of his stomach, before he tamped them down. Mark had seen him in states of undress before, why was this any different? 

“It is my fault,” Mark repeated, affecting a playfully wounded expression before tugging on the hem of Donghyuck’s (Mark’s) shirt and pulling it up and over his head. Very quickly, Donghyuck’s sweatpants came off too, thrown somewhere into the pile of clothing surrounding them (he felt mildly irritated at the desecration of his nest, but that was for another time).

Mark hooked his fingers in the waistband of Donghyuck’s boxers before pausing to look up at him for approval. When Donghyuck nodded, Mark slid his boxers down, reaching up to untangle them when they got caught on his ankles before kneeling between his legs.

Donghyuck squirmed, completely bare, feeling his cock hit the air. He felt the mess of slick between his legs and on the inside of his thighs and _oh._ He hadn’t even noticed how wet he was until then, and Donghyuck had to fight not to try to cover himself, unsure of what Mark’s reaction to it might be.

Donghyuck started. “I—um...”

“ _Fuck,”_ Mark muttered, before swiping his fingers through the slick on Donghyuck’s thighs and giving him a heated look. “You’re so _wet_.” His voice got softer. “And you have moles down here too.” He swiped his thumb over the cluster of moles near the crease at the top of his right thigh. Donghyuck shuddered. He felt a swarm of butterflies invading his stomach. 

“How can you just—” Donghyuck huffed. Mark gave him a questioning look. Donghyuck gasped, mouth trembling slightly. “How can you just _say_ stuff _,_ I’m not—” 

Mark’s hands moved to Donghyuck’s outer thighs, rubbing up and down in a comforting motion. He gave him an intense look, considering. “It’s just. You’re very pretty Donghyuck.” Mark huffed out a laugh, running a hand through his hair, “I think it’s making me a little dumb. If it’s making you uncomf—”

“No!” Donghyuck winced at the sound of his own voice. “No. You can just do whatever. It’s whatever.” He shrugged, affecting nonchalance.

Mark seemed to be hiding a smile, and Donghyuck briefly considered strangling him with one of his own sweaters. That thought got cut off when Mark leaned down and kissed him again, Donghyuck giving the slightest resistance before sighing into his mouth. He twined his legs around his waist, moving to rut up against his stomach. Mark pulled back after a moment and kissed his chin and cheeks, and then his nose, causing it to scrunch response. 

“Do you have lube?” Mark asked, rubbing a hand up and down the slick inside of his thigh. Donghyuck shivered, pressing his face to Mark’s neck to catch his clean, aroused scent, causing him to clench on nothing, slick trickling out onto the bedsheets. 

“Yeah. Um. It’s in my drawer, but you might not need it.”

“Better safe than sorry.” Mark directed a despairing look at the stack of clothes between them and the bedside drawer. Donghyuck giggled, unrepentant, kicking lightly at Mark’s knee. “Come on, go get it.” Mark grumbled a little before making the trek. 

Mark kissed him once before warming the lube between his fingers, kneeling between his legs again. Donghyuck breathed slow as Mark pressed two fingers into him, putting pressure on his inner walls. Mark’s fingers immediately moved to slide firmly down his back wall, slowing down when he reached around the area where the knot would catch during a heat or a rut. Mark eventually hit a sensitive spot and Donghyuck yelped loudly, shivering at the sensation.

“Easy,” he moaned, closing his eyes against the sensation.

“Knot nerves?” Mark smiled to himself, putting lighter pressure against his anterior wall.

Donghyuck nodded, panting slightly from the pleasure. He shivered a little, feeling exposed. Mark leaned closer, Donghyuck immediately moving to bury his face in the crook of his neck.

“More?” he asked, pulling his fingers out before thrusting back in and _finally_ putting pressure on his prostate. Donghyuck moaned, forgetting Mark’s question for a second. When he finally recovered, he saw Mark looking down at him with a soft, pleased expression. 

“Yeah. More. Just put it in me Mark, it’s _fi—ne,_ ” Donghyuck whined towards the end as Mark put pressure on his prostate again. He chuckled, before pulling the toy from where it had rolled away in the sheets.

Mark spread a thin layer of lube over the toy, warming it in his hands before he nudged Donghyuck’s legs apart, exposing him. Donghyuck shivered as he was laid bare. Mark gave him one last questioning look, and Donghyuck nodded as if to tell him to keep going. He closed his eyes and shuddered as Mark pressed the tip of the toy against his entrance, pushing in slowly. 

Donghyuck hiccuped out a moan at the feeling of being filled, _finally,_ eyes tearing at the overwhelming sensation. Finally, the base of the toy was flush against Donghyuck’s body. Mark only uttered a terse _fuck,_ tracing around where the toy stretched at Donghyuck’s rim and staring.

“Mark, _please,”_ he moaned, strung out to the point of begging at the slow pace. Mark’s gaze darkened before he leaned forward and angled the toy a little deeper, putting pressure against his walls. Donghyuck clenched down and whined at the feeling, tense and involuntary, his thighs tightening around Mark.

Mark swallowed, eyes devouring each and every inch of his skin – at his face and down to his leaking cock, his rim stretched around the toy Donghyuck felt caught between exposure and arousal, both emotions feeding into each other. “Kiss me, _please._ “ Donghyuck begged, words getting stuck in his throat for a moment. Mark groaned in response, leaning forward and pressing their mouths together hungrily.

Donghyuck’s eyes squeezed shut as Mark sucked at his tongue, legs coming to circle Mark’s waist even tighter, more desperate. Mark’ slowly started to pull the toy out, spurring another low moan from Donghyuck.

Donghyuck flushed as Mark leaned back to look at him, embarrassed at how quickly he’s reduced to pants and whines. Unable to bear it any longer, he pulled Mark’s neck for another kiss. This time Mark seemed to resist the movement. Donghyuck furrowed his eyebrows at the response.

“I want to see you,” Mark spoke, low and resolute, sweeping his eyes down Donghyuck’s body, dark and intense. “You look so gorgeous stretched out like this. I bet you’ll look even better on my knot,” he spoke, hushed and reverent.

Donghyuck whined in response, high-pitched, his whole body shuddering uncontrollably. He didn’t know what it was, if it was the pheromones or the oncoming heat or just Mark himself, but everything felt so overwhelmingly _good._ Doing this to himself, even during heat, couldn’t prepare him for _this_.

Donghyuck didn’t know how to cope. Donghyuck covered his face with both hands, chest filling with too many emotions to stay uncovered. _I wish it was you,_ he thought. _This is already too good. But I wish it was you._

“Donghyuck?” Mark questioned softly, tapping at Donghyuck’s hands. How could he not know? How could he be so _good_ to Donghyuck and yet not understand the effect he had on him?

Donghyuck lowered his hands, hoping he wasn’t teary-eyed. “Can we change positions?” he croaked. “I want to scent you.”

Mark nodded at that, sitting back against the headboard and pulling Donghyuck into his lap, hands coming up to bracket his waist. In this position, Donghyuck was able to feel where Mark was fully hard in his joggers, and rut against him a bit. 

Donghyuck pressed his face to the crook of Mark’s neck, panting. Maybe it was the oncoming heat, maybe it was just the pent-up longing, but Mark smelled so good and so _safe_ he could hardly bear it. Donghyuck took small sips of Mark’s clean aroused scent, utterly content.

Mark’s hand started rubbing in long comforting strokes up and down his back, reminding Donghyuck of the night before. Mark pressed his mouth against the soft blond hair at his temple, close to his ear. “Are you alright?” he murmured.

Donghyuck closed his eyes and nodded. “I’m okay. ‘m so good, I swear,” he answered, less clearly than he’d intended. He pressed his forehead to Mark’s for a moment, closing his eyes and breathing to regain his composure. “Now could you please fuck me before I die or something?”

Mark groaned at that. “Scooch up,” he directed, hands nested in the soft crease between Donghyuck’s thighs and ass. He pulled himself up a bit, looking into Mark’s eyes, darker and yet softer than he’s ever seen them. He reached down, one hand braced on his waist, one hand fiddling with the toy between his legs, making Donghyuck squirm and pant.

Mark pulled the toy out slightly, and pushed it back in, checking his face for his reaction. Donghyuck sighed, furrowing his eyebrows. “More,” he demanded, and Mark obeyed.

Mark pressed the toy into him slowly, and then faster, spurred on by Donghyuck’s moans. Pleasure built, coursing through his body with abandon. Mark whispered out low encouragements, Donghyuck rocked down to meet Mark’s thrusts. _Good boy. Gorgeous. Look at you. How did I ever deserve this?_

“I’m close,” Donghyuck gasped, arms right around Mark’s shoulders and head thrown back. “Knot me,” he begged. Mark nodded, just once against his neck and Donghyuck felt the knot inflate. His muscles clenched, and sensation explodes as the toy presses firmly against him. He shivered full-bodied, movements slowing down to just rocking against the knot and gasping, wordless. Mark fists his cock and pumps once, twice, and Donghyuck fell, coming so hard he saw stars behind his eyes for a moment.

On the other side, there’s Mark, glowing soft-focus and smiling like he’d just won something precious. Donghyuck, still reeling from the aftershocks, figured that it was probably the other way around.

Donghyuck leaned against Mark’s chest, gasping from the exertion. Orgasms so close to a heat were usually exhausting but satisfying in that they could relieve other heat symptoms for a short while. Mark’s arms safely engulfed Donghyuck’s body before he collapsed, gently setting him in his bed; his nest, with Mark in it. Donghyuck sighed in contentment, before he realized…

“Wait,” he gasped reaching for the front of Mark’s pants, trying to pull him closer. “You too.” Mark only chuckled in response, kissing Donghyuck’s hand before setting it back in the sheets.

“You’re good,” he explained soft and hushed. “You did so well for me, baby. Just rest, okay?” Donghyuck glowed at the praise, head swimming with contentment. Mark stroked a hand down his back, hand reaching the base of the toy where the knot was still in him. “Do you want this in or out for now?”

“In.” He shivered. “But Mark.” He squirmed, discontent, pulling at Mark from where he’s trying to reach for the bedside table over Donghyuck’s clothes. “You too,” he slurred sullenly, resolute despite his sleepiness.

“Donghyuck you’re about to pass out.” Mark sighed. Donghyuck pouted in response.

“Here,” Mark said, sounding strained. He gently pushed Donghyuck from lying on his side to his stomach. He felt Mark’s hand gathering a trail of slick from where the knot stretched his rim and then down his thigh, then a rustle of fabric as Mark tugged on his drawstring before pushing his joggers down. “Just sit pretty for me, baby.”

Donghyuck shivered in realization. He stretched a little, trying to show himself off. Mark groaned, and he heard the sound of Mark pumping himself faster, along with the wet _squelch_ of his own slick that Mark had spread over his cock, then a low groan as Mark spilled hot over his back. Donghyuck sighed in contentment, basking in the afterglow.

By the time Mark came back with a soft cloth to clean him up, Donghyuck was already dozing. He startled awake, blinking drowsily at the feeling of the warm washcloth on his back, then over his stomach and thighs. Donghyuck shifted in discontent as Mark tucked him under the covers without joining him.

“Where are you going?” Donghyuck frowned. Mark carded a hand through his hair, eliciting a happy rumbling noise from Donghyuck. “I need to send an email about a heat break to the school administration.” Donghyuck made a displeased noise.

Mark continued, “Also we need heat provisions. And you need to eat before your heat starts. I’ll wake you up when I have lunch ready,” he said softly before kissing his forehead and then his eyelids. Donghyuck hummed in assent, falling asleep, and completely forgets to question the lunch statement.

🧦

Donghyuck woke up to the scent of reheated garlic chicken and some sort of miscellaneous takeout covering the smell of some burnt _thing_ that was definitely a result of Mark’s illustrious talent in the kitchen. He winced, still sensitive to smell from his preheat. Grumbling, he shifted in the sheets to check the time and decide whether or not to get out of bed just yet.

The movement brought the focus to the toy still inside him, and he flinched a little, suddenly feeling the stretch of the knot still inflated inside of him. He pressed the button to bring down the toy before perfunctorily pulling it out and tossing it somewhere in the sheets. Donghyuck huffed in frustration, tired and annoyed at being alone when he woke up. He threw himself back against the pillows, sulking, before the door opens and Mark padded into the bedroom.

“You’re awake,” Mark remarked, looking pleased.

Donghyuck narrowed his eyes in response. “What did you do in the kitchen?”

Mark shifted between his feet, “Uh. I got takeout?”

Donghyuck gave him a significant look and then sighed. “…Okay.” He shrugged and let it go, too close to his heat to care. Really, he was an angel. He sat up, intending to get out of bed when Mark spoke.

“Um… did you take out the toy?” Mark asked, a strange tilt to his voice.

“Yeah?” Donghyuck responded, blinking. “I got it when I woke up?”

“Oh.” Mark looked vaguely disappointed. “I would have liked to do that.” Donghyuck nearly choked on his spit.

“Anyway, come on, let’s go eat.” Mark held his hand out to Donghyuck before handing him one of his oversized t-shirts and some boxers and pulling him to the kitchen, which bore the evidence of a stressful couple hours for Mark.

Donghyuck sat at the kitchen counter at the seat not occupied by Mark’s laptop. Mark puttered around the kitchen restlessly, looking for plates and chopsticks for their takeout.

Donghyuck yawned as he reached for the notepad next to Mark’s laptop. On the top sheet there seemed to be a list of professors and emails. “By the way, did you get a response about heat leave?”

Mark made a hedging noise, “Sort of? Because it’s so late and I’m not really registered as your mate, I’m going to have to take an emergency rut break. Thank God my next rut is not until winter break, I got lucky.”

“Well, I am quite the fortuitous occurrence in your life,” Donghyuck said, cradling his chin in his hands.

Mark laughed aloud at that, giving Donghyuck a fond look before his phone chimed. He swiped the notification, brows furrowed. He perused the message quickly before his face cleared and he pumped his fist in excitement, “Yes! One professor down.” He looked woefully at the notepad in Donghyuck’s hand. “Five more to go,” he sighed. Donghyuck snickered at that.

Mark handed Donghyuck a plate of food before sitting down beside him, setting the food aside and tapping his laptop awake. “How goes it?” Donghyuck asked, resting his head on Mark’s shoulder to look at the email he was composing.

“Not great,” Mark sighed, leaning back into Donghyuck’s touch. “Nobody wants to answer emails, I guess. But…” He tapped the mousepad, with a sigh of relief, “I’ve sent everything, so it’s out of my hands now.”

Donghyuck hummed in response before he perked up a bit. “I should tell Renjun that I’m spending my heat with you, so he knows we haven’t both died.” Mark made a noncommittal noise in response.

Donghyuck pouted. “What?” he sighed.

“It’s just that if Renjun knows, word’s going to get around town?” Mark shrugged, “I mean if you’re okay with that, that’s cool with me!” he exclaimed, wide-eyed and earnest. “But we’re probably not going to get any privacy anytime soon.” Mark ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

Donghyuck affected a scandalized expression, holding a hand to his heart. “You think Injunie would betray me like that?” Donghyuck picked up his phone from the counter. “You’re out of your mind,” he muttered, already distracted with composing a message.

Mark just sighed. “Okay.” He shrugged, mouth pursed in a moue of disapproval.

Twenty minutes later Mark’s phone was overheating from text notifications.

Yuta: _JUST CALL ME CUPID BRO???_ 🏹❤🏹❤🏹

Jeno: _Congrats!!! I’m so happy for you guys_ 💙

Jaehyun: _I told you, bitch_ 😤

Donghyuck scrolled through Mark’s messages giggling, while Mark laid his head down on the counter and groaned. Donghyuck snorted. “Johnny wants to tell you that he knew all along… and he said to use protection.” Mark started to gently bang his head against the counter. Donghyuck hummed and absently patted his back. 

At the next _ping!_ Mark snatched his phone back from Donghyuck. “Answer your own texts,” he sighed before passing Donghyuck’s phone back to him. Donghyuck grumbled a little before going through his messages, a string of expletives from Renjun, a congratulations text from Chenle, along with a string of messages that basically amounted to “I told you so.”

Mark was staring at his phone with a satisfied look on his face when Donghyuck glanced back at him. Donghyuck leaned his head against Mark’s shoulder, peaking at his phone screen. “What are you looking at?” he asked.

“Chenle sent me this.” Mark chuckled before showing him a screenshot of an Instagram post. In it was a selfie of Yukhei, shirtless with a black and white filter with the caption, _someday, you’ll be wishing you had this_ 🖤

Donghyuck smothered a laugh against Mark’s shoulder. “He’s not actually _that_ sad _,_ you know.” Mark made a doubtful noise in response. Donghyuck snorted. “Lucas is just dramatic; he thinks that all omegas are meant to be with him. Until he finds another omega, probably.”

“Lucas?”

“Yeah, he has a few names, actually? Lucas, Yukhei, Xuxi…”

“…Okay,” Mark nodded, responding in a deliberately mild tone. Donghyuck burst out laughing. Donghyuck had never realized until he had gotten the recent opportunity to test it, but Mark had a jealous streak a mile wide. Donghyuck told him that.

Mark shrugged, looking nonplussed. “Only when it comes to you if I’m being honest.”

“Bullshit.” Donghyuck laughed. “Alphas are just jealous by nature.”

“It’s true!” Mark exclaimed, wide-eyed and insistent. Donghyuck blushed and looked at his plate. If he really thought about it, Donghyuck couldn’t recall Mark having this type of reaction for other omegas or betas in the past.

“Whatever,” he muttered. Mark tugged on one of his overheated ears, and Donghyuck batted it away. After getting through about half of his plate of reheated take-out he walked over to the fridge to look for the water bottles he kept in the side door only to find nearly empty cabinets.

“There’s nothing in in our fridge,” Donghyuck deadpanned, turning to face a sheepish Mark.

Mark hedged. “I mean yeah, we sort of had a stressful week—”

“And whose fault is that?” Donghyuck interjected.

“—I never ended up buying groceries this week. Usually, it’s fine because you spend heats alone, so I could have just bought them in a pinch. I guess I, um, didn’t really plan for this.”

Donghyuck sighed, exasperated. “What are we going to do?”

Mark narrowed his eyes in thought before perking up a bit. “Actually, you know what, don’t worry about it! Jaehyun owes me a favor, he can probably um…” Mark grabbed his phone, composing a text with his brows furrowed. “…help us out.”

Donghyuck opened his mouth, doubtful somehow, that this was a good idea, before shrugging to himself. He was too close to his heat to toil over specifics.

Donghyuck opened the trash can lid to throw out the rest of his food before a wave of nausea overtook him. The combination of his heat symptoms and whatever god-awful cooking creation Mark intended to make before deciding on takeout seemed to crawl up his nostrils and down his throat. Donghyuck closed the lid quickly, moaning and clutching his stomach.

Mark quickly moved to Donghyuck’s side, brushing his hair from his face. “Are you okay,” he asked urgently. Donghyuck nearly bit his hand off in response. “My body thinks you’re trying to poison me, asshole.” Mark only made a pained expression, understanding well enough not to argue, before leading him to sit on the couch and kneeling in front of him.

“Your heat’s starting soon.” Donghyuck could only nod in response. Mark pressed the back of his hand to his forehead, neck, and then cheek. Donghyuck sighed and leaned into the touch.

“Let’s get you back to your nest, why don’t we?” Mark pulled Donghyuck back to his bed, this time getting under the covers with him. Donghyuck sighed in relief at being surrounded by safe scents again, before another wave of discontent washed over Donghyuck.

He writhed a little in frustration, hot prickly _need_ crawling under his skin, only soothed by Mark’s proximity. If he were spending the heat by himself, this would be the point where he would shamefully find one of Mark’s best scented hoodies from his nest and wrap it around his pillow. This time Donghyuck was free to bury his face in Mark’s neck, sighing a little. Mark’s arm coiled around his waist to rub his back, easing the cramps a little.

Donghyuck doubted that he would be able to spend his heats alone after this.

For Donghyuck, this was the hardest part, this last bit of waiting before a heat, where symptoms peaked with no end. Mark seemed to understand that, humming a comforting melody in Donghyuck’s ear, and moving between stroking his back and scratching his scalp. The only thing that could be done to relieve the symptoms…

“Sleep,” Mark murmured into his ear, and as if Mark had cast a spell with his words, he slept.

🧦

When Donghyuck woke up next, Mark wasn’t there and Donghyuck’s body felt like it was on fire. He squirmed in the sheets, overheated and cramping. _Where was he?_

Mark had left their nest. He didn’t want him. His alpha didn’t want him.

In his heat-addled state he could only interpret that Mark had rejected him. Donghyuck should have expected it, but it hurt all the same. Of course, he changed his mind.

Donghyuck sobbed, utterly bereft. He buried his head in the pillow next to him, not hearing the door open. He felt the bed dip beside him and a frantic hand on his back.

“—Hyuck? Donghyuck?” He heard Mark’s voice as if he were underwater. Donghyuck reached out and _pulled,_ bringing Mark into his nest and pressing his face to his neck. He shuddered at the contact.

“Where were you?” he asked, voice somewhere between panicky and irate.

“I’m sorry, I had to get the door, I’m so sorry.” Mark kept murmuring apologies into his hair. Donghyuck huffed in frustration. He squirmed at the feeling of Mark’s clothing. Everything was so _hot,_ why were clothes even invented?

He grabbed ahold of the hem of Mark’s sleepshirt, desperate.

 _“Off,”_ he slurred. “Take this off, _please._ ”

Mark breathed deeply, once, twice, before picking Donghyuck’s hand from where it was clenching his t-shirt. He kissed at his fingers before setting Donghyuck’s arms at his side, and quickly stripping off his t-shirt. Donghyuck sighed in relief and pulled him closer, finally skin against skin.

“Donghyuck.” Mark spoke clear and resolute. “You have to let go of me. Let me get my clothes off.”

Donghyuck whined, shaking his head. “No. Stay here.”

“I’m here, Donghyuck.” Mark kissed at Donghyuck’s forehead, his collarbones. “I’m here, I promise. M’sorry, okay? I should have realized since it’s your first time. I’m here; I promise I’m right here.” Donghyuck sobbed.

Mark had effectively pinned Donghyuck to the bed, torso against torso, one leg between his thighs holding him in place. Donghyuck pulled Mark closer by the nape of his neck, breaths coming slower.

Donghyuck’s grip on Mark’s torso slowly loosened enough for Mark to lean back and look at his face. Mark brought a hand to cradle Donghyuck’s face, swiping at what was probably a tear track. Donghyuck shivered, utterly destroyed already.

Mark moved back, detaching himself from where he was completely entwined with Donghyuck, eliciting a high-pitched whine. Donghyuck’s thighs clamped down on Mark’s leg between them, unable to tolerate the loss. 

Donghyuck’s breaths came heavy, “ _No_ ,” he panted “Just—” Donghyuck’s hips rutted up desperately. “Just—"

Mark relaxed, letting Donghyuck continue his grind. “Okay baby. I’ve got you. Gorgeous thing, I love that you can come like this.” Mark was practically purring into his ear. Later, Donghyuck would wonder where his Mark learned to whisper dirty praises into someone’s ears like this. At the present moment, all he could do was _feel._

Donghyuck’s slick and precome slowly soaked through Mark’s sweatpants, clinging to his skin, easing the slide. Mark’s thigh put pressure against his cock, sliding roughly against his skin. Mark put a hand to his lower back, helping the movement, every thrust getting another whispered praise from Mark. Donghyuck shivered in response, he just needed. He _needed—_

“What do you need, gorgeous?”

“ _Fing-,_ just, hah” he stopped and for a second. “Just your fingers, _anything_ , _please._ ”

Mark seemed to get the message, hand not on his lower back moving behind him, between his legs and parting his cheeks. Donghyuck moaned at the feeling, shivering uncontrollably. Mark groaned in return, vibrations tickling against Donghyuck’s temple.

He didn’t need much; as Mark’s first finger entered him, putting pressure against his nerves—

Donghyuck let out a loud whine, hips stuttering once, twice, before coming all over Mark’s thigh, clenching pathetically on Mark’s single finger and leaking out a fresh wave of slick.

Vaguely, Donghyuck gave thanks to whichever city planner decreed that mixed-gender apartment complexes required soundproofing.

Donghyuck could only pant as he came down, still achy and dissatisfied, if only slightly less so. Mark pulled back a little before getting caught again by Donghyuck’s arms around his neck. Mark gave him a significant (if fond) look and Donghyuck reluctantly let go of his neck, sighing at the anticipated loss.

Mark pulled back slowly, staying as close to Donghyuck as possible. He quickly stripped off his pants, gently setting Donghyuck on his side, over the covers. He came nose-to-nose with a red-faced, shivering Donghyuck, arm wrapping tight around his waist.

“Okay?” he gentled.

Donghyuck nodded, speechless and overcome before another wave of achy, painful _heat_ washed over him. Donghyuck squeezed his eyes shut shaking his head.

Mark’s arm tightened as he hummed, sympathetic. “Feeling empty?” Donghyuck was washed through with sudden _awareness_. His whole body clenched on nothing, utterly hollow in a way that he could barely vocalize. He shook with anticipation from Mark’s scent, seized by a nameless _want_ that he could neither move nor breathe from, and Mark was the only one who could satisfy it.

He clutched at any part of Mark’s body he could reach “— _Mark._ I need- I need, _please._ ”

“You need a knot,” Mark growled, looking down Donghyuck’s body, looking where the slick kept leaking, staining the sheets. Donghyuck shivered caught between the need to hide and to show himself off.

All Donghyuck could do was nod in response, practically sobbing.

“—Please.” He spread his legs, presenting. He sobbed, reaching down to press fingers into himself. “ _Please.”_

Mark took a deep breath, some expression shuttering over his face, ( _wrecked_ , he thought later, _he looked wrecked_ ) before he pulled Donghyuck’s fingers from where he was dripping. Donghyuck whined in response. Mark gently kissed his fingers before he trapped them with one hand, stroking Donghyuck’s face with the other.

“Words, I need you to use your words, baby,” he said, insistent and authoritative, so different from his normal Mark.

Donghyuck’s eyes teared up in frustration. as he took a deep breath, concentrating. “Knot, I need a knot,” he gasped.

Mark’s gaze darkened a little, “Whose knot,” he practically growled, stroking a thumb over Donghyuck’s lower lip. “ _Whose_ knot do you need?” His tone belied the mildness of his actions.

“You. Mark. Mark, it’s you. I just need you. I’m yours, please, _oh—_ ”

Mark pushed Donghyuck’s legs apart, kneeling between them and just staring for a second, before thrusting three fingers up into him, sliding in with little resistance.

Donghyuck took in the sight above him. Mark looked like everything that Donghyuck dreamed of during long heats alone, eyes closed with fingers and toys pressed deep inside him dreaming up the image of Mark in this very position while that same object of his affections ate, slept, studied in the next room, blissfully unaware of what Donghyuck was doing to himself.

Donghyuck’s stomach flipped as he took Mark in, his torso defined by a layer of lean muscle, broad shoulders, and the line of hair that led to his cock, and his slowly burgeoning knot.

Donghyuck gulped a bit at the sight. Donghyuck was unable to get a good look before, but it was _big,_ bigger than Donghyuck’s knotting dildos, even at half-mast. Abstractly, Donghyuck thinks Mark has a _nice_ dick, a very nice dick well-shaped and curving slightly upwards. There was a prominent vein running down the side that Donghyuck wanted to lick. Donghyuck twitched and sighed, feeling empty. All he wanted—

Mark’s expression darkened as if he knew what Donghyuck was thinking, before he leaned closer, mouth pressing against Donghyuck’s neck.

“Fuck me, Mark,” he insisted. “ _Now._ ”

Mark ran a hand through his hair, tongue pushing into his cheek as he pressed Donghyuck’s legs a little wider. “I’m going to go slow, okay? Since it’s your first time, it’ll be a little easier.” Mark’s voice came out rough and dark.

Mark kissed underneath the bony jut of Donghyuck’s ankle before gently propping it against his shoulder, exposing him even more. Donghyuck moaned, “ _More,_ Mark, please. ‘Can take it.” The words came out less clear than he intended.

Mark chuckled, kissing at the skin behind Donghyuck’s knee, sending an unexpected jolt through his body before leaning forward to kiss him, deep and passionate.

Mark spread him open, cock pressed against Donghyuck’s entrance. By this point they were both panting, and Donghyuck thrust up slightly, trying to get Mark’s cock to press _in._ Mark stopped the movement with a hand on his hips.

Mark stopped all of a sudden and gave him a wide-eyed, considering look. He opened his mouth once, closed it again, furrowed his brows a bit. “Say something very Donghyuck,” he blurted out.

“ _What?”_

Mark smiled, raising his eyebrows a bit. Donghyuck made note of his clear death wish for later reference, rage cutting briefly through the fog in his head.

“You know, something Donghyuck-y. A Donghyuck-ism? Um—”

“You _asshole,_ ” he gritted out, legs squeezing painfully against Mark’s arms where he was holding him open.

Mark sighed at that, leaning his forehead against Donghyuck’s for a second. “Tell me if it hurts, okay?” Donghyuck nodded frantically, neck aching from the tension.

“P— _lease- oh…_ ”

Time slowed down. His neck ached. _Mark’s._

_Mine._

With absurd clarity, Donghyuck thought, _One day, I will be bonded to this man._

Donghyuck squeezed his eyes shut, breathing slow. Vaguely, Donghyuck could hear Mark asking if he was okay. All he could let out was a strangled whine in response.

The burning fire of heat was being replace by something else, something purifying. ” _More,”_ he begged, eyes squeezed shut, tears welling up at the relief _._

Mark nodded, pressing in until his hips were flush with Donghyuck’s ass.

As if they were both underwater. _“–Okay, does it hurt.”_ The fine tremor of Mark’s body somehow grounded him.

Donghyuck shifted and gasped. Honestly, yes, it did hurt, it should hurt, he was stretched wider than he’s ever been before, Mark pressed close and buried deep, _deep._ Donghyuck’s body seemed to have its wires crossed, because more rather than pain, all he registered was _relief._

“I’m okay,” he sighed. “Mark?”

“Yeah?”

“Move, please.” Mark rocked back slightly before pushing back in. Donghyuck trembled at the intensity.

He closed his eyes, brows furrowing. Mark’s pace sped up slightly.

“Okay?” Mark repeated.

“Yeah,” Donghyuck gasped. Pain turned to relief, relief turned to burning pleasure, and then want. He needed _more_.

“Open your eyes.” Mark’s voice sounded darker than he’d ever heard it. Donghyuck’s eyes opened to narrow slits. Somehow, he knew that if he looked at him too quickly, he would be burned alive, as if Mark was the sun, the flames consuming.

He needed _more._

“Mark,” he whispered, cupping his cheek, the tremor of his fingers indistinguishable from the shivering of Mark’s body. “It’s you,” he breathed. “I want you Mark, I want your knot your bite, all of it— _ah!_ ”

Mark growled and thrust forward, sweetness turning to something meaner, harsher. Donghyuck moaned at the sudden whiplash.

 _“Don’t,_ ” Mark growled, “—talk about taking my bite while you’re on you heat. Not while you’re on my knot. Not unless you mean it.” Mark panted through gritted teeth.

Donghyuck moaned. He knew he was playing with fire. His voice came out hushed, belligerent. “And what if I mean it?” he whispered sweetly between their bodies.

The air was charged, thick and heavy between them. Mark’s hips twitched forward again, hard and slow, grinding into Donghyuck in a way that made him forget to breathe for a moment.

“You want my knot? You want my bite?’ Mark snapped, punctuating his question with a hard thrust that had Donghyuck whining, ecstatic tears welling up in response. Mark gently wiped one of them, before sucking the liquid off his thumb, so gentle compared to the way his hips were driving into Donghyuck.

“ _Yes_ , all of it.” Donghyuck could only moan.

Mark growled. “Do you think you deserve it? Acting like a brat, asking me to bi— ” Mark’s sentence cut off into a gasp as he hit a particularly good angle. Donghyuck became aware of the continuous high-pitched keen he was letting out.

When Donghyuck couldn’t swallow the noise, he brought his hands up to cover his mouth, embarrassed, self-conscious, _something._

Mark, seeing his movement grabbed his arms and pinned them firmly to the bed. “I want to hear you.” Mark’s eyes narrowed from the pleasure. “Tell me if you need me to let go, or if you want me to slow down.”

Donghyuck shook his head frantically in response, arching up farther into Mark’s body.

Mark’s teeth scraped over his neck, teasing, making Donghyuck sob in pleasure. His words came gently this time, “How long were you hiding this, stealing all my clothes for your nest, while acting like some other alpha was going to fuck you here? You wanted to play the ‘how much can I push Mark until he snaps’ game, huh? Cute.” Mark’s voice came out rough, strained. “But it was always going to be me wasn’t it?”

Donghyuck shook his head weakly, eyes squeezed shut, flayed open by Mark’s words. He couldn’t quite lie, though, not with Mark, not in this position.

Mark kept hitting Donghyuck’s prostate with every thrust, and the knot was large enough to catch against Donghyuck’s rim by then. Donghyuck shuddered. Even if he thought of making a weak protest against Mark’s words, Donghyuck’s mouth was too sweetly occupied by Mark sucking on his lower lip by that point, and his _knot_ ; every time his knot caught, Donghyuck shuddered a little deeper, too fucked out to care.

Mark panted, leaning back from the kiss. “I’m going to knot you now,” he warned, eyes dark and serious. Donghyuck nodded, desperate and so, _so_ close.

Mark sucked on his neck and Donghyuck felt the knot stretching his insides, pressing into all of his nerve endings. Mark rutted down once, twice, and Donghyuck came with a wet cry, clamping down on Mark’s knot, legs squeezing against his torso.

Even past the orgasm, pleasure kept building, spurred on by Mark’s shallow rutting, Mark’s scent in his nose, his body surrounding his, his hands on his arms, his voice. Mark let out a low groan as he came, pressing his forehead against Donghyuck’s collarbone for a second. Donghyuck gasped, feeling Mark filling him up, twitching, continuing to suck at the sensitive spot on his neck.

Donghyuck slowly stroked over the muscles of Mark’s back, feeling him tense and shiver above him. With one last groan, Mark collapsed on top of him, pinning Donghyuck between his body and his knot. Donghyuck sighed, carding his fingers through Mark’s hair, content and secure under Mark’s weight.

Mark pulled himself up, eyes finding Donghyuck’s through the haze. For a long, perfect second, Donghyuck wondered if they hadn’t just merged into one body, if Mark couldn’t read everything that Donghyuck felt and thought just by his body alone, that Donghyuck couldn’t do the same to him. Mark’s hand came up again, thumb stroking over the moles on his cheek. Donghyuck breaths slowed, eyes closing when he feels Mark twitch inside him, residual pleasure sparking through his body.

Mark’s arm came around his waist, pulling them both face-to face onto their sides, Mark’s knot still stretching at his insides. Donghyuck shivered as he shifted inside him. Mark kept staring at his face, fascinated by his reactions.

“Stop staring,” Donghyuck whispered, narrowing his eyes.

“Sorry,” Mark’s voice came fucked out and gravelly. He didn’t look particularly sorry, fingers moving between Donghyuck’s legs to trace around where the knot was stretching him open, slowly trailing through the slick.

”Hah—stop teasing, that’s horrid.” Donghyuck shivered uncontrollably, eyes squeezed shut.

Mark chuckled. “Let me help you out then.” Mark leaned forward and fisted Donghyuck’s cock, rocking into him slowly with his knot, fingers still playing around his rim. Donghyuck moaned loudly as he came again, Mark groaning in response.

When he recovered, Mark was still staring at him, giving him that look again.

“Really?” Donghyuck panted out.

“I think I just like the way you look stretched out like this.”

Donghyuck blinked, blushing bright red. Fucking _Mark._ Donghyuck was too satisfied to protest, tired down to his bones.

Donghyuck was utterly blissed out. He felt almost drugged with pleasure. He put his hand over Mark’s heart, feeling it beat, slow and secure. Donghyuck breathed deeply, closing his eyes and setting his head in the crook of Mark’s neck. He finally understood the fuss over partnered heats.

“Tired?”

Donghyuck nodded. Mark’s hand came up to card its way through Donghyuck’s hair mirroring his own movement from before. “The first knot is always tiring.”

He felt Mark’s throat work under his nose for second, swallowing words.

Finally, he spoke, “Did you mean what you said about me biting you, about being bonded to me, or were you just trying to rile me up?”

Donghyuck couldn’t lie, not with their bodies this connected. Not when his bones were this heavy from remembered pleasure.

He sighed. “I want to be with you for the rest of my life. In some way or another. If we’re bonded now or twenty years from now…” He shrugged, blinking tiredly at Mark. He blushed a little deeper. “I didn’t quite mean to tell you like that, though.”

Mark snorted. “Things just come out during heat, you know? You should hear some of the stuff I’ve said during my rut.” Donghyuck felt a brief stir of jealousy at whatever information Mark’s rut partners got to know about him.

Mark spoke again, voice coming out a little softer, “I want to be with you too, Hyuck, you know? For a long time. We can talk about it later. We _will_ talk about it later.” He sighed. “Not during heat though, I might actually bite you. No alpha can bear that temptation, not with someone they love.” Mark covered Donghyuck’s hand over his heart with his own. He snorted. “Besides. It’s not so easy to dissolve a bond these days.”

“Sorry.” Donghyuck winced slightly.

Mark pinched his shoulder lightly. “You’re lucky I’m a gentleman.” He spoke in a low, amused tone. Donghyuck smiled against his neck. “Not really, though,” he retorted sleepily, muffled by the skin of Mark’s shoulder.

Donghyuck fell asleep to the feeling of Mark’s chest rumbling with laughter.

🧦

Three days later, Donghyuck and Mark were curled up on the couch, cuddled under a blanket, Donghyuck’s heat all but fizzled out. At this point in his heat, he felt comfortable enough to leave his nest as long as Mark was close by.

The TV played a low drone in the background as Donghyuck scrolled through Instagram, Mark the only one trying to pay attention to the movie. He scrolled past a picture of Renjun and Lucas canoodling on a couch together at a party and snorted to himself. He looked at Mark, considering showing him the picture before idly deciding against it. Maybe after the heat, right now he couldn’t handle any of Mark’s badly hidden smugness.

Donghyuck yawned, stomach rumbling. Mark hummed at the noise, passing him a bag of artisanal potato chips.

“I can’t believe you told Jaehyun to get us heat provisions and he bought like…” Donghyuck gestured at the pile of overpriced, mildly impractical food surrounding them “...all of Whole Foods.”

Mark shrugged. “Sometimes, I wonder if he’s a vampire, you know, with his buying habits. And his abs.” Mark’s hand absent-mindedly rubbed circles on Donghyuck’s belly. Donghyuck sighed at the contact.

“I was about to kill him though, when he knocked on the door right as your heat started,” Mark added, uncharacteristically dark.

Donghyuck looked away, feeling strangely pleased at the response. He snorted, deflecting. “You can’t kill a vampire, Mark. It’s already dead.”

Mark laughed hysterically at that, almost falling off the couch. Donghyuck grabbed the back of shirt to keep him in place, grumbling a little. Mark’s laughter was practically a health hazard (and not just because it was so sweet).

Donghyuck huffed and cuddled closer to Mark. Some omegas needed extra contact after a heat, and some were up and at it immediately. Donghyuck leaned more towards the extra contact, and Mark was happy to give. Taeyong said alpha instincts were just wired to protect their mate after heats. Doyoung had chastised him, saying that society took too much stock in instinct and that it was more that alphas felt protective after seeing their omega so needy for so long and with knotting bearing a certain degree of roughness— Whatever it was, Mark was definitely more doting than usual.

“It’s too hot.” Mark squirmed under the blanket for a minute before shucking off his t-shirt and throwing it off the edge of the couch.

Donghyuck glared. “Seriously?”

“You want it for your nest?” Mark asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

Donghyuck rolled his eyes so hard, he might have tasted his brain.

Mark’s eyes narrowed with suppressed laughter, pressing his nose gently against Donghyuck’s own. “You know why I let you steal all of my clothes?” he spoke in a low voice.

“Because of your painfully deep, shamefully repressed love for me?” Donghyuck raised an eyebrow.

Mark made an agreeing noise, “Well, yeah, sort of, that too. But actually, it was because I saw you one time. You thought I fell asleep on the couch, and you like, picked up my sweatshirt that I dropped on the floor? You like, smelled the collar, and then you folded it _ever_ so carefully, and you brought it to your room, and—”

“Please stop.” Donghyuck covered Mark’s mouth, blushing furiously. He knew. He knew how significant the nest was. Why did he know? Mark said he loved him, but still. It was just so—

Mark gently pulled Donghyuck’s hand from his mouth. “I was about to say it was about the cutest thing I’d ever fucking seen in my life,” he whispered, leaning their foreheads together. “How could I have ever resisted you, Lee Donghyuck.” He smiled softly.

Donghyuck’s shuddered. This _feeling._ How did Mark have the _gall._ Honestly Mark needed to just—

“Shut up.”

“Okay,” Mark chuckled fondly, raising his eyebrows.

“’M wet.” Donghyuck muttered, pushing Mark against the arm of the couch.

“Really? I thought your heat was—”

“Nope.” And as Donghyuck straddled Mark’s hips, Mark’s arms coming around to secure him, he thought to himself, it wasn’t the clothes that mattered or the nests or the knots. It was just Mark and Donghyuck. Together. Beautiful like a pair of matching wool socks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright!! chapter 2 of sock!fic, finally! although this chapter is a bit more like lacey stockings, i think... 😆  
> honestly, i still love this verse so much, i still have thoughts about sequels, and just more in this verse, so stay tuned, i guess, if you liked this, or ask me more about this verse on twt or my ask blog! 💕
> 
> thanks again to my beta [wakeupmoonchild](https://twitter.com/wakeupmoonchild) for helping with the edits. 💖
> 
> this fic title was inspired by a Pablo Neruda poem about [socks](https://poets.org/poem/ode-my-socks)
> 
> i'm on [twt](https://twitter.com/stardust_made) and if you have questions, please  
> send them [here](https://scatteredinstars.tumblr.com/ask) (anon, cross-posted to twitter!) (like seriously, somebody ask me about donghyuck's Three Steps to Successful Nesting, i want you to Know)
> 
> as always, kudos are amazing and comments will make me love you forever!! ❤


End file.
